Congress Named Six Men. Here's What the 2 Million Documents Actually Show.

On February 9, 2026, Representatives Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Thomas Massie (R-KY) spent two hours at the Department of Justice reviewing unredacted versions of documents from the Epstein files. The viewing was facilitated by the DOJ following passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which mandated disclosure of all DOJ-held Epstein records with redactions limited to victim identities and materials that would jeopardize active investigations.

During their review, Massie and Khanna identified six names that had been blacked out in publicly released versions of the documents.

The next day, February 10, Khanna stood on the House floor and read all six names aloud, characterizing them as "six wealthy, powerful men" who were "likely incriminated by their inclusion in these files."

The Six Names

1. Leslie (Les) Wexner
2. Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem
3. Salvatore Nuara
4. Zurab Mikeladze
5. Leonic Leonov
6. Nicola Caputo

The Twist

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche responded that four of the six names (Nuara, Mikeladze, Leonov, and Caputo) were "completely random people selected years ago for an FBI lineup" with no connection to Epstein's crimes. Their names appeared in a Southern District of New York photo lineup consisting of individuals arrested over a span of decades for unrelated offenses in New York City. They appeared in exactly one document out of the entire 3.5 million pages.

Khanna walked back his characterization: "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."

The Two Who Mattered

The database tells the story. The Epstein Exposed database contains 2,145,445 documents. Here is how the six names appear:

Les Wexner: 1,018 document-person links, 2,825 OCR text mentions. Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem: 4,197 document-person links, 6,772 OCR mentions. Salvatore Nuara: 0 document links, 43 OCR mentions. Zurab Mikeladze: 0 document links, 0 OCR mentions. Leonic Leonov: 0 document links, 2 OCR mentions. Nicola Caputo: 0 document links, 189 OCR mentions (likely a different Caputo entirely, given it is a common Italian surname).

Les Wexner, the billionaire founder of L Brands (Victoria's Secret, Bath & Body Works), was labeled a "co-conspirator" in a 2019 internal FBI memo compiled days after Epstein's death. The memo named eight co-conspirators including Ghislaine Maxwell, Lesley Groff, and Jean-Luc Brunel. Four other names on that list remain redacted.

On February 18, 2026, Wexner was deposed by the House Oversight Committee for approximately six hours via subpoena from his home in New Albany, Ohio. He testified he was "duped by a world-class con man" and denied wrongdoing. Ranking Member Robert Garcia accused Wexner of facilitating Epstein's sex trafficking ring, calling his denials "bogus."

Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, the Emirati businessman who chaired DP World, resigned from all his positions on February 13 after Rep. Massie identified him as the recipient of an April 24, 2009 email from Epstein reading: "where are you? are you ok, I loved the torture video." The document exists in the Epstein Exposed database as efta-efta00666117. Bin Sulayem appeared in over 4,700 documents.

The Broader Redaction Problem

The six names were part of a larger dispute over the DOJ's approach to transparency. The DOJ acknowledged withholding approximately 200,000 pages "based on various privileges," even after the Transparency Act was signed.

Even in the DOJ's secure reading room, lawmakers reported that key documents retained redactions despite promises of full access. Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) confirmed continued redactions during their own review sessions.

Massie described seeing an "unclassified list of 20 individuals" where initially only Epstein and Maxwell's names were visible, with everyone else redacted.

On February 14, AG Pam Bondi sent a six-page letter to Congress justifying the redactions.

Deputy AG Blanche stated on February 2 that there would be no additional prosecutions related to Epstein, saying the materials did not "allow us necessarily to prosecute somebody."

What It Means

The episode revealed two failures operating simultaneously. The DOJ over-redacted names that should have been public under the law. When forced to disclose, two of the six turned out to be genuinely significant: an FBI-designated co-conspirator and the recipient of a disturbing email. Both faced immediate professional and legal consequences.

But the DOJ also failed to explain benign redactions. By blacking out four names from an unrelated photo lineup without context, the DOJ created the appearance of a coverup and exposed four uninvolved individuals to public suspicion.

The bipartisan push by Massie and Khanna did surface real, consequential names. But the four false positives gave critics ammunition to dismiss the effort as reckless. The net result was another round of confusion in a case already defined by institutional failures of transparency.