Trump in the unredacted Epstein files 'a million times'
Updated . First published
Two members of Congress have named six men whose names were redacted by the Department of Justice from the Epstein files.
Democrat Ro Khanna and Republican Thomas Massie used their parliamentary privilege to name the men on the floor of the House of Representatives.
"Seventy to eighty per cent of the files are still redacted," Khanna said.
READ MORE: Trump told police in mid-2000s 'everyone has known' about Epstein
Jeffrey Epstein was a notorious sex trafficker and financier. Christopher Anderson/Instagram
"There were six wealthy powerful men that the DOJ hid for no apparent reason."
The list includes two billionaires.
Nobody on the list is accused of taking part in any specific criminal wrongdoing or implicated in any crimes. And none of them have been charged in connection with Jeffrey Epstein.
The legislation passed late last year required the Department of Justice to release all the files connected to their investigation of Epstein.
The department was permitted to redact the names of victims.
But the millions of documents released have also redacted the names of countless other people - including some seemingly connected to serious crimes.
Massie and Khanna were able to go to the department yesterday to read unredacted files from the investigation for two hours.
READ MORE: Draft announcement of Epstein's death dated the day before
Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie have led the charge in Congress to release the Epstein files. AP
"If we found six men they were hiding in two hours, imagine how many men there are covering up for in those three million files?" Khanna said.
"Donald Trump's FBI scrubbed these files in March, long before Thomas Massie and I passed the Epstein Transparency Act."
Another congressman granted access to the Epstein files, Jamie Raskin, alleged that Trump's name appeared in them "more than a million times". Nine is not implying that appearing in the files is an indication of any criminal offence.
Raskin said he had read an email between Epstein and accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, which denied a central claim made by Trump.
Trump has repeatedly stated Epstein was asked to leave Mar-a-Lago.
But the 2009 email exchange included Epstein denying the assertion.
The president said he threw Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago because he was poaching spa workers.
Trump said Epstein "stole" victim Virginia Giuffre from the spa.
At the time, Giuffre was a teenage masseuse working for Trump.
READ MORE: Ghislaine Maxwell offers to exonerate Trump if she's let out of prison
Jeffrey Epstein died in a prison cell. New York State Sex Offender Registry/AP
Meanwhile, the Department of Justice is answering questions about why a statement about Jeffrey Epstein's death was dated the day before his apparent suicide.
The press release was dated August 9, 2019, when Epstein died on August 10.
It was subsequently released in the Epstein files release.
The department told the BBC the date was merely a typo.
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