Epstein files: Amid growing pressure from US lawmakers, the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday (local time) released more names in connection with recently released documents related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, CNN reported.
The development follows several lawmakers’ review of unredacted versions of multiple records. The Justice Department released the latest tranche of Epstein’s files on January 30. In an interview with CNN, Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky said the department had previously redacted the identities of several people named in a 2019 Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) document.
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Whose names were now unchanged?
Among those now unaccounted for are the names of billionaire business magnate Les Wexner, Epstein’s longtime assistant Lesley Groff and former French modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel, each of whom has been named as Epstein’s co-conspirator.
Wexner is the former chief executive officer (CEO) of Victoria’s Secret parent company L Brands. He previously hired Epstein as a financial manager, but said he cut ties with him in 2007. When Wexner’s name first emerged publicly in December, his attorney said the assistant U.S. attorney overseeing Epstein’s investigation made it clear that Wexner was in no way a target or a co-conspirator.
A lawyer for Groff, believed to be a longtime Epstein associate, said Groff “never saw or knew about the document.” He added: “In fact, neither Lesley nor her attorney were ever advised that she was considered a co-conspirator. Instead, after Lesley voluntarily spoke to prosecutors and answered all questions put to her, she was told she was not being prosecuted.”
Brunel died in 2022 in his prison cell after being arrested on several charges, including the rape of a minor.
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Other names not redacted
Other names that have not been responded to include Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, the CEO of DP World and an Emirati billionaire, and four others identified as Nicola Caputo, Salvatore Nuara, Zurab Mikeladze and Leonic Leonov, The Guardian reported.
The names were publicly revealed by Ro Khanna, a US congressman, during a speech on Tuesday (local time), saying: “If we found the six men they were hiding in two hours, imagine how many men they are hiding in those 3 million folders.
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The Ministry of Justice has not yet clarified the editorial
The DOJ has not yet explained why it made the redactions in such a confusing and inconsistent manner, according to the CNN report. The Justice Department also did not explain why it or the FBI did not charge anyone other than Epstein, saying only that the available evidence did not support the prosecution of others.
DOJ faces criticism over Epstein files
Since US President Donald Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act in November 2025, the Department of Justice has released a massive trove of documents, with the latest tranche containing more than three million pages, 180,000 images and at least 2,000 videos. The documents outline details from the sex-trafficking investigation into Epstein and contain fresh information about his connections to powerful and wealthy individuals.
Meanwhile, Democrats in Congress have criticized the Justice Department’s handling of the redaction of the files. While some have accused the department of over-redacting the files, lawyers representing Epstein’s survivors said they failed to properly redact the names of survivors before releasing the database, CBS News reported.