Ro Khanna, a California Democratic representative, read a list of six names on the House floor earlier this week and said they were “wealthy, powerful men that the DoJ hid” in the recently released files related to Jeffrey Epstein. After questions from the Guardian, the Department of Justice said that four of the men Khanna named have no apparent connection to Epstein whatsoever, but rather appeared in a photo lineup assembled by the southern district of New York (SDNY).
Khanna, along with Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican representative, pushed the justice department to unredact names in the files, arguing that some names were being unlawfully redacted. Massie claimed credit on X earlier this week for forcing the justice department to remove redactions on a file that listed 20 names, birthdays and photos, including those of Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Khanna then read some of those names on the House floor.
Two of the six men Khanna mentioned are Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, who has since resigned as CEO of DP World and an Emirati billionaire businessperson, and Leslie Wexner, a billionaire retail magnate, but the other four names did not appear to have any public profile.
A spokesperson from the office of Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, told the Guardian the file was a photo lineup used for investigative purposes by the SDNY.
“Rep Ro Khanna and Rep Thomas Massie forced the unmasking of completely random people selected years ago for an FBI lineup – men and women. These individuals have NOTHING to do with Epstein or Maxwell,” the spokesperson told the Guardian.
When contacted for comment on this story and told administration officials confirmed the document was a photo lineup, Khanna posted on X that “I wish DoJ had provided that explanation earlier instead of redacting then unredacting their names. They have failed to protect survivors, created confusion for innocent men, and have protected rich and powerful abusers. We must have full transparency and the truth.” He also thanked the Guardian for reporting on the connection to the photo lineup.
The Guardian spoke with two of the men whose names Khanna read out on the floor. They both strongly denied knowing Epstein at all; one said he didn’t realize his name had been mentioned on the House floor in connection to Epstein until the Guardian contacted him. The two men acknowledged they were arrested by the NYPD in the past for unrelated crimes, which could explain how their photos ended up in a photo array assembled by law enforcement.
Salvatore Nuarte, of Queens, New York, said he called Khanna’s office after hearing that his name was mentioned. “I don’t know if they know what they are doing over there at the justice department,” he told the Guardian. “But how can I clear my name?”
A spokesperson for Khanna’s office shared with the Guardian an email it sent to Nuarte after he reached out. “The Department of Justice has not been transparent in what the list was or why they redacted and unredacted your name,” Sarah Drory, Khanna’s communications director, wrote to Nuarte. “We will make sure to be absolutely factual and truthful once we have these facts and certainly not fuel any misimpression DoJ has created.”
Leonid Leonov, whose name was incorrectly listed as Leonic Leonov in the files, but whose photo and birthday matches the file, is an IT manager in Queens. He vigorously denied knowing Epstein. “I don’t even have a second or third degree connection to him. Never worked for him, nothing,” he said when reached via phone.
The two other men Khanna named, Zurab Mikeladze and Nicola Caputo, could not be reached.
A spokesperson for Massie responded to a lengthy list of questions by pointing only to a post by Massie on X clarifying that the Caputo in the files was not an Italian politician with the same name.
Massie, who along with Khanna spearheaded the Epstein Files Transparency Act, has been critical of the justice department’s release and redactions of the files. Victims’ names have appeared at times unredacted in the files, Massie said this week, while the names of some rich and powerful Epstein associates were redacted in places.
The file with 20 names and photos – sourced to the NYPD, except for Epstein, Maxwell, and two victims, whose photos are sourced to Palm Beach and what appear to be their passport photos – appears on the justice department’s website four separate times, but with varying redactions.
One version shows all the dates of birth for the 20 people, except for two lines that Massie has said were victims. Another version shows several of the photos unredacted. By analyzing unredacted information from the four versions, the Guardian found that 11 of the people on the list appeared to represent a diverse cross-section of people with ties to New York City, many with misdemeanor arrests by the NYPD. It’s not known what happened in those criminal cases. Five of the women on the list resembled Ghislaine Maxwell, with short dark hair, and were in their 40s or 50s at the time of their arrests. Five of the men had similar hair, ages and coloring to Jeffrey Epstein.
The justice department had earlier told CBS News that the four men Khanna mentioned were “only included in this one document out of all the files. Wexner is referenced nearly 200 times in the files, and Bin Sulayem appears over 4,700 times.”
After Massie and Khanna pushed to reveal that Bin Sulayem was the recipient of an email Epstein wrote in which the disgraced financier said that he “loved the torture video”, the Emirati billionare resigned from the logistics company DP World, the company announced on Friday.
A legal representative for Wexner said: “The assistant US attorney told Mr Wexner’s legal counsel in 2019 that Mr Wexner was being viewed as source of information about Epstein and was not a target in any respect. Mr Wexner cooperated fully by providing background information on Epstein and was never contacted again.”