After the last batch of Epstein fileswere released, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) was very quick to suggest that six people in the files had been implicated in sex crimes.
As usual, it would appear that Khanna jumped the gun, making allegations without any real proof on most of them men listed in this particular report.
Now, he has been forced to walk back his statement after an investigative reporter did his job for him.
There is this illusion that because your name is in the Epstein files, especially if it is repeated, you are guilty.
To that point, after the latest batch of files was released, Khanna stated that there were six men who were “likely incriminated,” then he rattled off their names.
He then stated, “Now my question is, why did it take Thomas Massie and me going to the Justice Department to get these six men’s identities to become public? And if we found six men that they were hiding in two hours, imagine how many men they are covering up for in those 3 million files.”
Khanna then took a shot at the FBI, hinting there was a cover-up, claiming the files were heavily redacted, calling it a “farce.”
The six men whom Khanna and Massie were so confident as having been implicated are Les Wexner, the Victoria’s Secret founder; Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, CEO of DP World and an Emirati billionaire businessperson; and four others named as Nicola Caputo, Salvatore Nuara, Zurab Mikeladze, and Leonic Leonov.
Wexner is 88 years old and has accumulated a massive retail empire during his career. He is also largely credited with making Epstein “legitimate.”
Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, however, has far different ties to Epstein, as he was reportedly included in an email conversation with Epstein, having written, “I loved the torture video.” While Wexner’s camp has pushed back on the allegations, and he was never reportedly targeted by the FBI, bin Sulayem reportedly resigned from his company on Friday.
The other men had no significant standing of interest.
Khanna and Massie appear to have run off at the mouth a little prematurely, as investigative reporter Jacqueline Sweet actually did look into the relationships, if any, between Epstein and these men, which forced Khanna to walk back his statement.
He stated, "I appreciate [Sweet]’s reporting confirming today that Salvatore Nuara, Zurab Mikeladze, Leonid Leonov, and Nicola Caputo were just part of a photo line up and are not connected to Epstein's crimes.”
He continued, "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."
Or, perhaps, he could have dug a little deeper than simply seeing some names and jumping to conclusions. That is not on the DOJ but rather on Khanna for being so eager to break a bombshell that he jumped to a horrible conclusion. That only reinforces why the DOJ has not released all the names publicly.
