Seemingly putting “cheap clicks … over justice,” two congressmen were excoriated as the facts came out about previously unredacted names in the Epstein files.
“They knowingly and willfully ruined the lives of innocent people …”
Beyond the miasma of those hoping to use the mountains of documents related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as a cudgel to bludgeon their opposition, it remained that support for transparency was about holding all criminals accountable. This week, the bipartisan duo of California Rep. Ro Khanna (D) and Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie (R) earned a cavalcade of derision, including from the White House, when the choice to name names evidently smeared some with no known ties to Epstein.
Referring to her reporting for The Guardian, investigative journalist Jacqueline Sweet had noted that Khanna rattled off the names of four “wealthy and powerful men that the DOJ hid for no apparent reason” from the House floor. “The only problem is that file is a SDNY photo lineup, and the 16 people on it have no known ties to Epstein, the DOJ confirmed.”
“We identified 12 of the people on the list, and spoke to two of the men Khanna named, who denied any connection to Epstein and were seeking answers as to why their names were in the news. The lineup simply included people apparently arrested for various unrelated crimes over two decades in NYC, who resembled Maxwell and Epstein,” added Sweet.
White House communications director Steven Cheung reacted, “Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie are some of the dumbest retards ever to be in Congress. They knowingly and willfully ruined the lives of innocent people who had nothing to do with Epstein.”
Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie are some of the dumbest retards ever to be in Congress. They knowingly and willfully ruined the lives of innocent people who had nothing to do with Epstein. https://t.co/lbHFJC9Urx
— Steven Cheung (@StevenCheung47) February 13, 2026
Quoted in the report faulting the Justice Department for having allegedly “failed to protect survivors, created confusion for innocent men, and have protected rich and powerful abusers,” Khanna responded to the journalist’s X post by writing, “The problem is DOJ illegally redacted names without explanation and then refused to give context for the names once they redacted. This is why [Massie] and I have been pushing for the full release of the files with context and protecting survivors. Thanks for your reporting.”
The follow-up earned its own slam from Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who posted, “The problem is that you put political expediency and cheap clicks/demagoguery over justice and due process, making fools of yourselves in the process. Totally avoidable and unjust.”
The problem is that you put political expediency and cheap clicks/demagoguery over justice and due process, making fools of yourselves in the process. Totally avoidable and unjust. https://t.co/EgrbOqWMEs
— AAGHarmeetDhillon (@AAGDhillon) February 14, 2026
For his part, Massie bristled in response to Dhillon, pointing to a post from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche from the day prior to Khanna’s floor speech that included a repost of his own X commentary that had noted the potential for names to be “just randoms in a line-up.”
“You’re better than this Harmeet. I literally told DOJ these might be random guys in a line-up _before_ DOJ released the names,” the Kentucky lawmaker insisted. “Todd retweeted my post, so you can’t say he didn’t see it. DOJ should have provided the same context I did when they released the names.”
He also detailed on Friday how he is not suicidal, and there are no foreseeable circumstances for him to meet an accidental end after his latest contrarian votes to his fellow Republican legislators. In response, Khanna wrote, “I am not worried for my physical safety, honestly. The truth is more nuanced. Big money tries to destroy a person’s career & reputation. They did to [former Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R)]. In Washington, you rise by keeping your head down and not making enemies. Massie & I are unafraid to challenge power.”
You’re better than this Harmeet. I literally told DOJ these might be random guys in a line-up _before_ DOJ released the names.
Todd retweeted my post, so you can’t say he didn’t see it. DOJ should have provided the same context I did when they released the names. pic.twitter.com/TgMTmNkMXw
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) February 14, 2026
I am not worried for my physical safety, honestly. The truth is more nuanced. Big money tries to destroy a person’s career & reputation. They did to @mtgreenee. In Washington, you rise by keeping your head down and not making enemies.
Massie & I are unafraid to challenge power. https://t.co/zxofQ7ItpT
— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) February 14, 2026
Highlighting the stark contrast in posts from days earlier where he’d named the unconnected individuals in the files with his reaction to Sweet’s report, columnist Karol Markowicz called out the outcome of Khanna’s supposed “challenge” to power in no uncertain terms: “Self-important jackasses destroying the lives of random people with no connection to Epstein at all.”
Self-important jackasses destroying the lives of random people with no connection to Epstein at all. pic.twitter.com/yQeRsWWzmu
— Karol Markowicz (@karol) February 14, 2026
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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