US lawmakers said there is mention of a nine-year-old girl among redacted Epstein documents that they were given access to this week.
Democrats Jamie Raskin and Ro Khanna, as well as Republican Thomas Massie, were permitted to view unredacted versions of the Epstein files before later being quizzed by the media on what details were inside.
Raskin said some of the details were “scandalous,” and the politicians also questioned why some of the people involved had their names redacted.
“You read through these files, and you read about 15-year-old girls, 14-year-old girls, 10-year-old girls. I saw a mention of a nine-year-old girl today. I mean, this is just preposterous and scandalous,” he said.
Khanna also suggested that the redactions were “concerning” because they conceal the identities of men without a clear reason.
It’s understood that at least six men's names have been redacted from the files that politicians saw, including that of a foreign government official.
“There are six men, some of them with their photographs, that have been redacted, and there’s no explanation why those people were redacted,” said Khanna. “That’s really concerning.”
Massie suggested that he may share the identities of redacted men “from the floor or in a committee hearing” where he is protected from lawsuits.
It comes more than a week after the release of around 3.5 million documents containing years of email correspondence and pictures tied to Epstein and his inner circle. It’s understood that millions more remain unpublished.
Raskin, Khanna, and Massie were able to view the files at a secure government facility in Washington, DC, where they could only enter without electronic devices.
Among the unredacted emails made available on January 30, there were already a number of explosive and surprising revelations that have identified a number of prominent people.
There were conversations about Epstein getting a “fake wife”, Elon Musk making plans to visit Epstein’s island, and an image of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor leaning over an unidentified woman lying on the floor.
Appearing in the Epstein files does not mean wrongdoing. Andrew has always denied the allegations surrounding his relationship with Epstein.
However, many are unsatisfied with the Epstein file handling, which included the release of unredacted names of victims as well as the redactions of men potentially involved.
“We didn’t want to see any redactions of the names of co-conspirators, accomplices, enablers, abusers, rapists, simply to spare them potential embarrassment, political sensitivity or disgrace of some kind,” Raskin said to the media.
“And yet nonetheless, the Epstein … documents that were released are filled with redactions of names and information about people who clearly are not victims and may fall into that other category.”
