Epstein files scrubbed to protect 'elite, powerful men,' Rep. Khanna says

Amna Nawaz:

Welcome to the "News Hour."

New questions continue to emerge today over the Justice Department's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

Geoff Bennett:

One Democratic congressman went to the House floor today to read the names of six wealthy, powerful men whose identities were shielded in the public release of the Epstein files.

Congressman Ro Khanna is the co-sponsor of the Epstein transparency act. He reviewed some of the unredacted files at the Justice Department yesterday, and he joins us now.

Thanks for being with us.

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA):

Thank you for having me.

Geoff Bennett:

You have raised concerns about redactions even in the so-called unredacted files.

What specific categories of material are still being withheld, and what do you think accounts for it?

Rep. Ro Khanna:

Donald Trump's FBI scraped these documents in March, and the thing that they took out were survivors' statements to FBI agents about rich and powerful men who raped them or committed heinous acts.

And then those documents from the FBI were sent to the Department of Justice in a redacted form. They were already scrubbed. We need those documents to be unscrubbed. That's what the American people want to know. All of the rich and powerful men, many of them who raped these girls, are in those FBI statements, and those statements are still redacted.

Geoff Bennett:

As we said, you read the names of six men you believe are likely incriminated. How do you differentiate between individuals who were mentioned in the files versus those who are complicit in Epstein's criminal conduct?

Rep. Ro Khanna:

It's a very important distinction. There are many people who are mentioned who may be totally innocent, and this should not be a witch-hunt.

But the names that I read were listed as co-conspirators on documents. And the reality is, the Justice Department acknowledged that their identities should not have been redacted. And I just thought it was important for someone to step up and say, I'm going to hold these elite, powerful men accountable.

I mean, there has been no accountability in the United States. In Britain, the British monarchy is in trouble. The British government may fall. The Norwegian princess may not become queen. Other countries are having total investigations of anyone who even shared e-mails with Epstein.

And in our nation, we have not had accountability. And so it was a symbolic act. It was an act of courage and defiance to start naming names on the House of Representatives' floor.

Geoff Bennett:

Having reviewed the materials, do you now believe there's enough evidence for the Trump Justice Department to bring charges or at least open new investigations?

Rep. Ro Khanna:

Yes, I'm convinced of it.

First of all, anyone who's in the Epstein files saying that they planned to or were going to or did visit Epstein's island needs to be investigated under oath. They need to be asked some basic questions. What did you see? What did you know? Did you rape underage girls or see other people rape underage girls?

How can you show up to a convicted pedophile's island or ranch or home where you know that young girls are being abused and then not have an investigation or not have someone ask you questions? And yet that's what's gone on in America for decades. It is one of the biggest cover-ups and scandals in our country's history to see so many people in finance, in tech, in real estate, in politics go to this pedophile's island and face no consequences.

Geoff Bennett:

So I hear you say this isn't a question of insufficient evidence. It's a question of prosecutorial discretion.

How then can you compel the Justice Department to do more?

Rep. Ro Khanna:

Well, I can't compel them. I can compel them to follow the law. They have not released the FBI files that the law requires.

And we can go to a judge to do that. We can ask the attorney general tomorrow in hearings. We can have the FBI director explain why those documents were scrubbed. But in terms of the prosecution, that's for the Justice Department. It may come to a new American president who has to do the investigations and the prosecutions.

Congress can hold these people in front of a committee and ask them under oath to testify about what happened. But this is not just a Trump thing. These women were raped or abused for decades. And our country turned a blind eye. And our country turned a blind eye because rich and powerful people were involved. And some of these people had never had to ask questions.

Some of them are still in the high echelons of our society. I mean, you look at Howard Lutnick, who is the secretary of commerce, and it's evident now that he lied. He admitted to lying. And he is allegedly in all the files having business relationships with Epstein after he's a convicted pedophile.

And he's going to the island after Epstein's a convicted pedophile. How is that person still in our government?

Geoff Bennett:

So how should accountability -- I mean, what accountability for Howard Lutnick should follow, in your view?

Rep. Ro Khanna:

There should be a bipartisan call for him to resign. I'm not out there defending Keir Starmer. I know Keir Starmer.

His ideology is similar to mine, on the left, or Mandelson. But I'm for accountability whether it's left or right. And if Lutnick was in a Democrat administration, I'd call on him to resign too, because of his lying to the American people and his affiliations that have come out with Epstein after Epstein was convicted of pedophilia.

Geoff Bennett:

Are there structural or procedural changes beyond releasing the files themselves that Congress should consider to prevent similar withholding in future investigations?

Rep. Ro Khanna:

That's a very profound question.

First, we need to make sure that there is a transparency at the Justice Department that, when you have allegations or complaints about pedophilia, that they're acted upon. This all could have prevented, much of it, if Maria Farmer's complaint to the FBI in 1996 had been acted upon. But there was no urgency in the FBI or Justice to take action.

So this needs to be a priority, sex crimes and crimes against children, for the FBI and Justice Department. Second, there needs to be clarity in America that we don't protect the rich and powerful to be above the law. And that's why we need accountability now, because if we just kind of move on, as the president says, then the message to rich and powerful people is, you can get away with it.

And the message to every other American is that there are two tiers of justice. And if you're a working-class girl seeing that, you're going to be scared about coming forward.

Geoff Bennett:

Congressman Ro Khanna, Democrat from California, thanks for your time this evening.

Rep. Ro Khanna:

Thank you.