Jeffrey Epstein had a victim who was just nine years old and maintained ties to a senior official in a foreign government who is still in power today, lawmakers have said after reviewing redacted files. Representatives Thomas Massie, a Republican, and Ro Khanna, a Democrat, said during a press conference on Monday that the files appear to implicate six men.
Working together across party lines, the two lawmakers have led efforts to make the Epstein files public since July. They also championed the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was later passed and signed into law by Trump. Although the law is now in place, the push for full transparency continues.
Dirty Secrets Out
On January 30, the Justice Department released more than three million Epstein-related files, but most were heavily blacked out, frustrating lawmakers. Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie told reporters that the documents reference someone who is "pretty high up in a foreign government," and he called on Trump's Justice Department to "correct their mistakes."
One document Massie shared contained 18 redactions, including four referring to men born before 1970.
Monday was the first time members of Congress were allowed to review the unredacted files in person. Lawmakers had to visit a Department of Justice building in Northeast Washington, DC, where they could access the records only on DOJ computers.
After reviewing the material, Maryland Democrat Jamie Raskin said the files revealed several previously unknown victims, including one who was just nine years old.
"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 9-year-old girl today. I mean, this is just preposterous and scandalous," Raskin said.
Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's longtime girlfriend, invoked her Fifth Amendment rights and declined to answer questions about Epstein during a closed-door hearing on Capitol Hill.
No way Out for Maxwell
The imprisoned British socialite appeared remotely before members of the House Oversight Committee on Monday, with the closed-door session lasting less than an hour. Maxwell was questioned as part of a bipartisan congressional probe examining how the Justice Department handled and prosecuted the Epstein case.
After the deposition, Representative Ro Khanna spoke with reporters on Capitol Hill and warned that the repercussions of the Epstein scandal could reach far beyond the case itself. He suggested the controversy may pose a serious challenge to the British monarchy, saying it has uncovered what he described as a broader culture of elite impunity within the UK's political and social circles.
Khanna argued that this moment represents an extraordinary level of exposure for the monarchy. "This is the most vulnerable the British monarchy has ever been," he said, adding that the scandal could potentially lead to its downfall.
Khanna pointed to Prince Andrew's ties to Epstein, along with the involvement of prominent political figures such as Peter Mandelson, the former UK ambassador to Washington. He argued that the newly released Epstein-related files expose a protected circle of powerful people who, for years, avoided real accountability.
According to Khanna, symbolic gestures like stripping royal titles fall short of delivering justice. He also criticized the silence from senior leaders, saying King Charles III has a duty to clearly explain what he knew about the situation and when he knew it.
Khanna warned that if the British monarchy were to collapse because of the Epstein revelations, the fallout would not stop at the UK's borders. He said the scandal risks uncovering a much wider transatlantic elite network, with consequences that could extend far beyond the royal family.
