The Department of Justice released 3.5 million files related to Jeffrey Epstein last week—but what Congress found inside a secure evidence room changes everything we thought we knew about who was protected. Two lawmakers spent two hours with the unredacted documents and discovered the FBI had already scrubbed records before they reached DOJ lawyers, violating the Epstein Files Transparency Act. In just 120 minutes, Representatives Ro Kana and Thomas Massie identified at least six men whose names the government aggressively concealed despite legal requirements to disclose them. This isn't just about one billionaire—it's a cover-up that demands answers.
The Six Names Congress Uncovered
Lawmakers initially gave the Justice Department a chance to correct their redactions. When the department remained evasive, Kana took to the House floor using the Constitution's speech or debate clause—which protects lawmakers from defamation lawsuits—and read six names into the congressional record.
The first name unmasked was Leslie Wexner. The 88-year-old billionaire behind Victoria's Secret wasn't just an associate of Epstein's; he was the man responsible for most of Epstein's wealth. Internal FBI documents explicitly listed Wexner as a potential co-conspirator—a label his lawyers still dispute.
Starting in 1991, Wexner granted Epstein a full power of attorney, giving him complete control over his vast personal fortune. This arrangement allowed Epstein to act as Wexner's legal alter ego with virtually no oversight. He frequently bought property on behalf of the Wexners and then sold it to himself for a fraction of the price—including Epstein's famous Manhattan townhouse and even a private plane.
The newly unredacted files reveal something that contradicts Wexner legal team's public statements: in 2008, the exact same year Epstein was in a Florida jail for soliciting sex from a minor, Epstein reportedly paid Wexner a $100 million private settlement. This massive repayment was kept quiet because the Wexners didn't want to bring unnecessary public attention to the issue.
The second name unmasked was Sultan Ahmed bin Sulleam, the 71-year-old CEO of global logistics giant DP World. Unredacted records reveal explicit emails between Sulleam and Epstein dated as late as 2019—years after Epstein's first conviction. Most disturbing is an email where Epstein wrote that he loved "the torture video."
The other four names remain less confirmed. Nicola Caputo appears in the files, but the birth year for this person suggests he's more than ten years older than the Italian politician who has flatly denied any involvement. Salvatore Noir, Zurich Michaela, and Leonic Leonv appear alongside photographs, though their specific roles or connections to Epstein's operation haven't been established.
The real scandal isn't that these men are in the files—it's that the government went to such lengths to make sure their names were never disclosed despite the law requiring disclosure.
Critics might note that appearing in these documents doesn't prove criminal guilt. Kana himself cautioned that the person in the files is likely not the former MEP, and the DOJ's redactions may have legitimate protective purposes. But as Kana pointed out, if two members of Congress could uncover a cover-up for six prominent men in just two hours, it raises terrifying questions about what remains hidden in the millions of pages they didn't have time to examine.
The DOJ's Defensive Response
US Attorney General Pam Bondi appeared before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday to defend the Justice Department's handling of the files. The hearing quickly descended into a shouting match.
While members were distracted by the insults being fired back and forth, a Reuters photographer captured a page from Bondi's prepared book of insults—which she used to counter questions from lawmakers. This photo demonstrated that the DOJ monitored Congresspeople's searches of the unredacted Epstein files, implying that Bondi put more effort into investigating the people reading the files than those suspected of child abuse.
There's no legitimate investigative purpose for the DOJ to be tracking legislative oversight activities for political point scoring. The craziest moment came when Bondi was pressed on why the DOJ was protecting potential co-conspirators. Instead of answering, she pivoted to a rant about the rising stock market.
"The Dow right now is over $50,000. I don't know why you're laughing. You're a great stock trader as I hear Raskin. The Dow is over 50,000 right now. The S&P at almost 7,000. And the NASDAQ smashing records. Americans 401ks and retirement savings are booming. That's what we should be talking about."
That would have been a great answer if Pam Bondi headed up the Department of the Market—but she heads up the Department of Justice. It's a bold strategy to say it's okay that we're hiding sex traffickers because your 401k is up.
Bottom Line
The strongest part of this argument is the documented discrepancy between what the DOJ claimed about transparency and what congressional investigators actually found inside the unredacted files. The evidence that Leslie Wexner received a $100 million payment from Epstein while Epstein was serving a jail sentence for sex crimes against a minor—along with FBI documents explicitly listing Wexner as a potential co-conspirator—is explosive.
The biggest vulnerability is that appearing in these files isn't proof of criminal activity, and the redactions may have legitimate protective purposes. But if two lawmakers could uncover a cover-up in just two hours, the question becomes what remains hidden in the millions of pages they couldn't examine—and whether the DOJ's claimed commitment to transparency is actually a farce.