Thomas Massie and Todd Blanche trade barbs over redactions in Epstein files
Equal justice apparently isn't equal anymore.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) is taking the Justice Department to task for redacting the names or personally identifiable information of alleged co-conspirators to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein after the congressman viewed unredacted versions of the Epstein files on Monday.
Massie disclosed the latest revelations from his first viewing of the Epstein files in a series of social media posts late Monday. The posts were directly aimed at Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who maintains the department is complying with a law passed by Congress late last year.
Providing a summary of his findings after looking at the government files, Massie said the DOJ “unredacted an FBI file that LABELS two individuals as co-conspirators,” “unredacted a file that lists several men who might be implicated,” and “tacitly admitted that Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem was the sender of the torture video.”
Bin Sulayem, who leads logistics company DP World, allegedly emailed Epstein about a “torture video” that Epstein said he “loved” in 2009. The Emirati businessman’s email address was redacted in one of the recently released investigative documents.
A Sultan seems to have sent this.
DOJ should make this public.
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) February 9, 2026
Blanche said only the sultan’s email address was redacted instead of his name, which can be seen in a separate document. An email address is considered a piece of personally identifiable information, for which the deputy attorney general noted redactions are required under law.
“Be honest, and stop grandstanding,” Blanche told Massie. The congressman later fired back.
“Until tonight no one knew who sent the torture video to Epstein,” Massie said. “I went to DOJ, unredacted the email, and reverse searched the email to discover it was a Sultans. Our law requires VICTIM’s information to be redacted, not information of men who sent Epstein torture porn!”
Blanche also faced pushback from Massie over the DOJ’s redactions of nonvictims’ names in documents that contain victims’ names too. Massie argued that both types of information do not have to be hidden. In response, Blanche said “all non-victim names” were “unredacted” from one particular document and insisted the department “is committed to transparency.”
Massie felt otherwise after visiting the DOJ with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) to view the Epstein files.
“Here DOJ acts as if they were justified in redacting the …
Equal justice apparently isn't equal anymore.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) is taking the Justice Department to task for redacting the names or personally identifiable information of alleged co-conspirators to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein after the congressman viewed unredacted versions of the Epstein files on Monday.
Massie disclosed the latest revelations from his first viewing of the Epstein files in a series of social media posts late Monday. The posts were directly aimed at Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who maintains the department is complying with a law passed by Congress late last year.
Providing a summary of his findings after looking at the government files, Massie said the DOJ “unredacted an FBI file that LABELS two individuals as co-conspirators,” “unredacted a file that lists several men who might be implicated,” and “tacitly admitted that Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem was the sender of the torture video.”
Bin Sulayem, who leads logistics company DP World, allegedly emailed Epstein about a “torture video” that Epstein said he “loved” in 2009. The Emirati businessman’s email address was redacted in one of the recently released investigative documents.
A Sultan seems to have sent this.
DOJ should make this public.
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) February 9, 2026
Blanche said only the sultan’s email address was redacted instead of his name, which can be seen in a separate document. An email address is considered a piece of personally identifiable information, for which the deputy attorney general noted redactions are required under law.
“Be honest, and stop grandstanding,” Blanche told Massie. The congressman later fired back.
“Until tonight no one knew who sent the torture video to Epstein,” Massie said. “I went to DOJ, unredacted the email, and reverse searched the email to discover it was a Sultans. Our law requires VICTIM’s information to be redacted, not information of men who sent Epstein torture porn!”
Blanche also faced pushback from Massie over the DOJ’s redactions of nonvictims’ names in documents that contain victims’ names too. Massie argued that both types of information do not have to be hidden. In response, Blanche said “all non-victim names” were “unredacted” from one particular document and insisted the department “is committed to transparency.”
Massie felt otherwise after visiting the DOJ with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) to view the Epstein files.
“Here DOJ acts as if they were justified in redacting the …
Thomas Massie and Todd Blanche trade barbs over redactions in Epstein files
Equal justice apparently isn't equal anymore.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) is taking the Justice Department to task for redacting the names or personally identifiable information of alleged co-conspirators to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein after the congressman viewed unredacted versions of the Epstein files on Monday.
Massie disclosed the latest revelations from his first viewing of the Epstein files in a series of social media posts late Monday. The posts were directly aimed at Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who maintains the department is complying with a law passed by Congress late last year.
Providing a summary of his findings after looking at the government files, Massie said the DOJ “unredacted an FBI file that LABELS two individuals as co-conspirators,” “unredacted a file that lists several men who might be implicated,” and “tacitly admitted that Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem was the sender of the torture video.”
Bin Sulayem, who leads logistics company DP World, allegedly emailed Epstein about a “torture video” that Epstein said he “loved” in 2009. The Emirati businessman’s email address was redacted in one of the recently released investigative documents.
A Sultan seems to have sent this.
DOJ should make this public.
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) February 9, 2026
Blanche said only the sultan’s email address was redacted instead of his name, which can be seen in a separate document. An email address is considered a piece of personally identifiable information, for which the deputy attorney general noted redactions are required under law.
“Be honest, and stop grandstanding,” Blanche told Massie. The congressman later fired back.
“Until tonight no one knew who sent the torture video to Epstein,” Massie said. “I went to DOJ, unredacted the email, and reverse searched the email to discover it was a Sultans. Our law requires VICTIM’s information to be redacted, not information of men who sent Epstein torture porn!”
Blanche also faced pushback from Massie over the DOJ’s redactions of nonvictims’ names in documents that contain victims’ names too. Massie argued that both types of information do not have to be hidden. In response, Blanche said “all non-victim names” were “unredacted” from one particular document and insisted the department “is committed to transparency.”
Massie felt otherwise after visiting the DOJ with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) to view the Epstein files.
“Here DOJ acts as if they were justified in redacting the …
