Congress
Lawmakers don’t rule out exposing redacted names in Epstein files
Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie are challenging the Justice Department for redacting the names of six men in the publicly released materials related to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — and they could take matters into their own hands to reveal their identities.
These omissions, the two lawmakers argued Monday evening outside the Justice Department, could go beyond the scope of redactions that are permitted under the legislation they championed — and which President Donald Trump signed into law in November — to compel the full release of Epstein files within DOJ’s possession.
And while they declined to share the names with reporters Monday, Massie, a Kentucky Republican, didn’t rule out taking steps to do so in the coming days. He told reporters he should “probably” broadcast the identity of the shielded individuals “from the floor or in a committee hearing,” where his remarks would be protected from lawsuits through the Speech and Debate Clause.
“What we’re after is the men who Jeffrey Epstein trafficked women to,” said Massie, adding he would give DOJ officials the opportunity to “correct their mistakes” and reverse the redactions on their own before reading the names of the six men on the chamber floor or from a committee dais.
Massie said at least one of the men was a U.S. citizen, another was a foreigner and the nationalities of others were unclear. He suggested authorities were investigating at least one of them.
“There are six men, some of them with their photographs, that have been redacted, and there’s no explanation why those people were redacted,” Khanna, a California Democrat, told reporters. “That’s really concerning.”
Khanna and Massie were at a DOJ office building Monday to peruse the unredacted Epstein files, a privilege being afforded to members of Congress following the files’ public release. The lawmakers scrutinized the unscrubbed materials on closely-held computers — though Massie complained he was unable to view some documents that have since been taken down from the Justice Department website after being posted publicly.
Khanna suggested that some materials may have been redacted before the Justice Department review — potentially by the FBI — complicating the process for complete transparency.
Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, also viewed the unredacted materials earlier in the day Monday. He said there were about four computers for lawmakers’ use and viewers can only take written notes on what they see.
“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 told reporters. “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.”
He pointed to the redaction of Les Wexner’s identity as an example. Wexner, the former CEO of Victoria’s Secret, was an Epstein client and has a deposition scheduled before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee later this month.
Raskin also said he saw one redacted document, a message from Epstein’s legal team regarding Trump. He recalled the note mentioned that Trump had identified Epstein as a guest, but not a member, of Mar-a-Lago.
“That was redacted for some indeterminate, inscrutable reason,” he said.
Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan announced Wednesday he will seek to lead House Republicans as they enter the minority for the first time in four years.
“As we look to the future, we must learn from these results,” he said in a letter to colleagues a day after voters delivered an enormous rebuke to GOP candidates. “When Americans get knocked down, they pick themselves up and get back to work. Now our Conference must do the same.”
With Republicans at risk of losing 40 seats or more, Jordan is seeking to lead a much diminished corps of lawmakers. He pitched himself in the letter as a “battle-tested” combatant who is well-equipped to tangle with an emboldened new Democratic majority.
“In these next two years, our job cannot be merely to spotlight how radical this new Democrat party is — offense, not defense, wins elections,” he wrote, promising to “prioritize making Americans’ neighborhoods safer, keeping more money in their pockets, and protecting enduring American values and freedoms.”
“To restore our majority, we must restore voters’ faith in our ability to deliver on these principles,” he added.
Many Republicans expected Jordan to run for the position if Republicans lost the House after spending months laying the groundwork for a third leadership bid. Most recently chair of the Judiciary Committee, the 62-year-old House veteran has long been a popular figure among the GOP’s conservative base and helped a variety of candidates across the party’s ideological divides in the final weeks leading up to the election.
Jordan is expected to be joined in the minority leader race by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who could make his own announcement later Wednesday after Speaker Mike Johnson told his staff he plans to step aside.
Jordan took aim at the current House GOP hierarchy in his letter to colleagues: “For too long, we have operated without a clear plan to survive the hour or the day in front of us. That will not cut it against an emboldened and energetic Democrat majority.”
“We need a Leadership team that is active and engaged, forward-thinking and straight-shooting,” he added.
A co-founder of the hard-right Freedom Caucus, Jordan has made inroads with more moderate colleagues in recent years. His previous bids at a top leadership position — for minority leader against Kevin McCarthy in 2018 and then later to replace McCarthy as speaker in 2023 — were unsuccessful.
When he ran for the speakership, a group of moderate House Republicans blocked Jordan in a public vote on the House floor. This time, Jordan will only need a majority of the Republican Conference to win as minority leader.
The race for House minority whip is shaping up to be a contest between the current House majority whip, Tom Emmer of Minnesota, and Republican Study Committee Chair August Pfluger of Texas.
Emmer, who already said he had planned to run for the job regardless of the outcome of the midterms, has officially started making calls, according to two people directly familiar with the outreach, granted anonymity to describe private conversations. Pfluger, meanwhile, formally announced his plan to run for whip Wednesday morning in a letter to colleagues.
“We started 2025 with a clear mandate, and although there were successes, I believe we left a lot on the table,” Pfluger said in the letter, obtained by Blue Light News. “Some circumstances may have been out of our control, but we also missed many opportunities.”
Pfluger was among those who had pushed previously for Republicans to crack down on alleged fraud in social safety net programs in party-line budget reconciliation bills. He said Wednesday that while House Republicans have “a lot to be proud of,” the time has come to “regroup, recharge and fully unify.”
It’s all unfolding after the GOP’s devastating loss on Tuesday night, which could have some members looking for a fresh leadership team. Already Speaker Mike Johnson has said he has no intention of running to be minority leader, clearing the path for Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio or the current House majority leader, Steve Scalise of Louisiana.
House GOP leadership elections will begin next week, with candidates having until this Friday at noon to make their bids official.
Democrats have taken back control of the Senate. But two marquee races remain too close to call — and may not be decided any time soon.
In Mississippi, with nearly all precincts reporting, Democratic challenger Scott Colom and incumbent Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith are in a dead heat, with each claiming 48.9% of the vote. According to the latest count, Colom leads Hyde by just 43 votes with more than 900,000 ballots cast.
The state will count all mail-in ballots postmarked by Nov. 3 and received within five days of the election. Provisional ballots, which are provided to people whose eligibility to vote is uncertain, are also allowed to be counted for up to five business days after Election Day.
Neither candidate has claimed victory, but both projected confidence in election night speeches. Hyde-Smith said she would “continue” as the state’s senator, while Colom said that “deep down” in his “soul” he believed he would win. If Colom pulls it off, he’ll be the first Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate in Mississippi in nearly four decades as well as the state’s first Black senator since Reconstruction.
Mississippi state law does not have a mechanism for automatic vote recounts, and it remains unclear whether, or how, a recount could be initiated.
Meanwhile in Alaska, Democrat Mary Peltola is leading Republican incumbent Sen. Dan S. Sullivan by a razor-thin margin of several hundred votes with about three-quarters of ballots counted. But a final margin may be weeks away.
Alaska accepts absentee ballots up to 15 days after Election Day. The state uses ranked-choice voting if no candidate gets at least 50% in the first round of counting. As of Wednesday morning, Peltola was at 48.2% of ballots counted so far, while Sullivan was at 47.9%.
The state won’t even begin to tabulate voters’ preferences for two weeks, meaning we may not know who won in Alaska until closer to Thanksgiving.
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