Washington Examiner February 15, 2026

Massie Rips Trump DOJ Over Epstein File Redactions

Key Takeaways

▶ Rep. Thomas Massie called Trump's administration 'the Epstein administration,' his sharpest rebuke yet over the handling of Epstein files.
▶ Massie told the Washington Examiner: 'If you're not going to be transparent about this, you don't deserve to be called the transparency administration.'
▶ Multiple Trump administration figures appear in released files, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trump insider Tom Barrack.
▶ International responses include a French investigation into a diplomat and a UK national task force for trafficking allegations.

Rep. Thomas Massie escalated his confrontation with the Trump administration over Epstein-related document releases, telling the Washington Examiner that the president is running “the Epstein administration” and remains “in with the Epstein class.”¹

“If you’re not going to be transparent about this, you don’t deserve to be called the transparency administration,” Massie said.¹

The Kentucky Republican co-authored the Epstein Transparency Act with Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna. The law passed the House 427-1 and was signed by Donald Trump in November. It mandates the release of millions of pages of federal records related to Jeffrey Epstein’s network.¹

Redactions Dispute

The Justice Department, in a letter signed by Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, said the DOJ had fulfilled its obligations under the law. The department cited deliberative-process privilege, work-product privilege and attorney-client privilege as grounds for withholding certain records.¹⁸

Massie pushed back, saying he had identified at least six men whose names remained redacted despite the transparency mandate. He said the group included at least one U.S. citizen and a foreign individual “pretty high up in a foreign government.”⁴⁸

The Trump DOJ has faced broader accusations over excessive redactions in the released files.² The FBI has defended its approach by citing ongoing investigations and privacy concerns.³

After the lawmakers raised public concerns, the DOJ un-redacted more than a dozen additional names, including that of Leslie Wexner, the former Victoria’s Secret chief executive, who was listed as a possible co-conspirator in a 2019 FBI document.⁸ When Massie asked Bondi directly who had redacted Wexner’s name, he said she could not or would not provide an answer.¹

Blanche responded that the lawmakers had “forced the unmasking of completely random people” with no connection to Epstein or Ghislaine Maxwell.⁸

Republican Rift

Massie is not alone among Republicans criticizing the administration’s handling of the files. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene called the approach a “political miscalculation.”⁶

Trump responded by endorsing former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein to unseat Massie in Kentucky’s May 19 primary, calling the congressman a “real loser.”⁸ Last week, Massie declared publicly that he was “not suicidal” as pressure mounted over his investigation.⁵

Multiple Trump administration figures appear in the released files, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, whose documented contacts with Epstein have drawn concern from Republican senators, and Trump associate Tom Barrack.¹

Attorney General Bondi declined calls for complete unredacted releases. Her office faced separate scrutiny after reports it monitored Democrats’ searches of the Epstein files database.⁷

International Fallout

France opened an investigation into a diplomat named in the files. The United Kingdom launched a national task force to investigate trafficking allegations connected to the documents.¹

The DOJ letter included a list of roughly 130 government officials and public figures named in the files but drew criticism for making no distinction between individuals who communicated directly with Epstein and those merely mentioned in news clippings stored in the records.⁸