The Justice Department opened the unredacted Jeffrey Epstein files to review by members of Congress on Monday as lawmakers said that some names had been removed from the publicly released records.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act passed overwhelmingly by Congress in November, compelled the Justice Department to release all of the documents in its possession related to the convicted sex offender.
It required the redaction of the names or any other personally identifiable information about Epstein's victims, who numbered more than 1,000 according to the FBI.
But it said no records could be "withheld, delayed, or redacted on the basis of embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity, including to any government official, public figure, or foreign dignitary."
Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California, is among the members of the House of Representatives questioning some of the redactions in the more than 3 million documents released by the Justice Department.
Khanna posted examples on his Facebook page.
The name of the sender of a Jan. 17, 2013 email to Epstein is blacked out in the released files: "New Brazilian just arrived, sexy and cute, =9yo," the message said.
The name of the sender of a March 11, 2014 email to Epstein is also redacted.
"Thank you for a fun night," the message says. "Your littlest girl was a little naughty."
Khanna said the names of the senders of the emails need to be revealed.
"Concealing the reputations of these powerful men is a blatant violation of the Epstein Transparency Act," he said.
Epstein, who had ties to business executives, politicians, celebrities and academics, was found dead in his New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking minors.
Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's former girlfriend, is the only person convicted of a crime in connection with Epstein. She was convicted in 2021 of sex trafficking underage girls to the financier and is serving a 20-year prison sentence.
On Monday, Maxwell testified from prison to Congress but refused to answer any questions — while stating that she would reveal all if President Donald Trump granted her clemency.
The Justice Department has said no new prosecutions are expected, but a number of political and business leaders have already been tarnished by scandal or resigned after their ties with Epstein were revealed in the files.
Pressure among Republicans culminated in Trump, long a friend of Epstein's, signing off on the law mandating release of all the records.
Many Republicans have been among the leading voices calling for fewer or no redactions, saying the extensive blackouts violate the intent of the Transparency Act.
Republican lawmakers including Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who forced the bill to the House floor through a discharge petition, has said publicly that “Congress did not pass a transparency law so the DOJ could decide what the public is allowed to see,” adding in interviews with conservative media that redactions should be limited strictly to protecting victims, not shielding powerful figures.
Other Republicans, including Reps. Nancy Mace, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Lauren Boebert have echoed that criticism after the Justice Department’s initial release of more than 3 million pages, saying the documents were so heavily redacted that they obscured whether Epstein had accomplices or connections that warranted further investigation.
In a joint letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Massie and several bipartisan co-signers argued that redactions appeared to cover names of non-victims and entire pages frustrated “Congress’s constitutional oversight role,” language first reported by The Associated Press based on the lawmakers’ correspondence.
The move to allow greater access reflected intense political pressure to address what many Americans, including Trump's own supporters, have long suspected to be a cover-up to protect rich and powerful men in Epstein's orbit.
Trump has denied any involvement in wrongdoing by Epstein, and says he ended their friendship long ago.
Newsmax contributed to this report.