The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Saturday (Feb 14) sent a letter to Congress with hundreds of names mentioned in the documents related to investigations into late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The list included names of high-profile "government officials and politically exposed persons", including US President Donald Trump, named in the files. The letter also outlined its justifications for the redactions made in the files in the six-page letter sent to the Senate and House Judiciary committees.
The letter, which was first reported by Politico, notes that the names appeared in a "wide variety of contexts," from individuals who directly emailed with Epstein or his associate Ghislaine Maxwell to those who had no interaction with the sex offender but were mentioned in the documents. The letter does not specify which name appeared in what context.
Who is named in letter?
The names in the letter included Trump, Vice President JD Vance, former president Barack Obama, former president Joe Biden, and former vice president Kamala Hariss. The document also mentioned former US president Bill Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Bill Gates, and Elon Musk among the names.
'Stop protecting predators'
The Trump administration is facing increased scrutiny for its handling of the investigation into the case related to Epstein, with critics alleging that it has not been transparent in releasing the files.
Rep. Ro Khanna has accused the DOJ of "purposefully muddying the waters on who was a predator and who was mentioned in an email."
In a post on X, Kanna wrote, "To have Janis Joplin, who died when Epstein was 17, in the same list as Larry Nassar, who went to prison for the sexual abuse of hundreds of young women and child pornography, with no clarification of how either was mentioned in the files is absurd."
"Release the full files. Stop protecting predators. Redact only the survivor's names," he added.