GOP congressman says DOJ still hiding 'most significant' Epstein files: 'We want to look!'

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) took to ABC News Sunday to demand the Justice Department turn over specific files related to Jeffrey Epstein, files the agency had previously released but has since removed from its online database.

Last month, the DOJ released around 3.5 million files on Epstein, uploading them to an online database with heavy redactions that critics say have been unlawful. Lawmakers, however, are permitted to view Epstein files without redactions by visiting the DOJ headquarters in person.

The issue, Massie said on ABC News Sunday, was that the DOJ has removed a number of Epstein files from its database without explanation, files that in many cases were among the “most significant.”

“The problem is they’ve taken down documents before we were able to go over to the DOJ and look at the unredacted versions,” Massie said.

“They took down some of the most significant documents. Two of them involving Virginia Giuffre’s case and other things, the picture of Epstein in a room where it’s got CIA written on the boxes. That’s been taken down. We want to be able to look at all these files. They can’t keep those documents down after they’ve already produced them.”

The DOJ has, in fact, taken down a number of files it had already published, including the aforementioned photo of Epstein – standing next to a woman whose face was obscured with a black box – in a room filled with bins labeled “CIA.” A search for the file – titled “EFTA01144176” – on the DOJ’s online Epstein files database now returns no results.

Under the Epstein Files Transparency Act – the bill-turned-law that forced the DOJ to release its files on Epstein – redactions are mostly limited to those protecting the identity of minors or victims, and cannot be made to protect a person from embarrassment or reputational harm.