The Democrat Who Thinks He Knows Where Epstein’s Secrets Are
By Matt Stieb | 7.24.25
As Donald Trump and his allies in Congress try to put the Jeffrey Epstein story in the past, House Oversight Committee leaders from both parties are hoping to learn more about the president’s connections to the deceased sex offender. This week, Democrat Ro Khanna and Republican Thomas Massie started pushing to release the Epstein birthday book featuring a letter from Trump, while writing legislation to force the Justice Department to release more Epstein files when the House returns from its break in September. On Thursday, I spoke with Khanna about the importance of transparency on all things Epstein and how he intends to get it.
Last night, you said on MSNBC that the House Oversight Committee could get the Epstein birthday book by subpoenaing the Epstein estate — a development that could “really advance this case.” How would it move things forward?
We are working right now on a bipartisan letter to the attorneys of the Epstein estate to get that book and evidence. That is an easier ask than getting things from the DOJ. The private attorneys and private sector are much more likely to comply with a congressional request. That will give us insight into who else was caught up with this sex-trafficking scheme. Also, it can confirm or deny the reporting of The Wall Street Journal and the veracity of that letter.
The subpoena power remains active while the House is in recess. But we’re going to start with a bipartisan letter to request the book. You may not even need subpoena. You only do a subpoena when you think that the other side is not cooperating. And as a lawyer yesterday said on Lawrence O’Donnell, he thinks that the Epstein lawyers will cooperate and just hand it over.
Is there anything else that you might consider requesting from the Epstein estate?
We’ll start with this book and any other evidence they may have of people who were caught up in Epstein’s sex trafficking.
Is Epstein’s so-called madame Ghislaine Maxwell a potential witness for Oversight as well?
She’s being deposed by the Justice Department and she may testify, but the problem with her is that Trump’s previous defense lawyer is talking to her. She wants a pardon from Donald Trump. So her incentives are unclear, and I have significant concerns about her credibility as a witness and her independence.
Have you considered contacting other people on Epstein’s payroll, whether that’s pilots or cooks or whoever?
I think we may have a broader investigation, but right now we are focused on getting the evidence that already exists in the Justice Department files. We don’t need to re-create the work of thousands of hours of FBI investigators.
Why do you think Epstein is worth focusing on?
People keep talking about fighting Trump. But what we’ve seen is that the gratuitous insults to him or just calling him names or engaging in theatrics has not worked. And this is the first time that Democrats actually are winning. The bill that I introduced with Massie helped unravel Trump and has sent him into a panic and has put us on the side of the people and for accountability. And it’s about not just fighting Trump but fighting strategically and smartly. You can see a new sense of momentum that house Democrats have. I mean, we literally forced the shutting down of the Republican Congress. The bill introduced with Massie literally has put the Republicans on the defensive for the first time since Trump won. And I think it’s showing now what the base wanted, which is not just yelling at the Republicans but actually effectively pushing back.
I agree that this is an effective strategy for Democrats. Why do you think the presidential campaigns didn’t hit Epstein as hard on the trail in 2020 and 2024?
We should have. I mean, we should have been the party saying that the rich and powerful should not get their own system of justice. That the rich and powerful need to be held accountable to the laws that we’ve had in this country. The rich and powerful create the financial crisis and don’t suffer any consequences. We’ve had elites offshore jobs and not suffer any consequences. We’ve had rich and powerful people buy up housing and make home prices go high and not suffer any consequences. And the Democratic Party are going to be for holding these elites accountable. And we’re going to start by the rich and powerful men who raped and abused underage girls that there is something wrong with a civilization that doesn’t punish them and hold them accountable. And at the very least, we’re going to have transparency.
That is now the clear message that Thomas Massie and I are driving. And I believe that this is the beginning of the rebirth of the Democratic Party as a populist party. And it has been the most effective counter that we’ve seen to Trump’s MAGA in terms of actual effectiveness of results. It’s led to the shutdown of the House, it’s led to the splitting of the MAGA base. It’s led to Trump panicking. It’s led to prominent conservatives speaking out against the president’s decision to hide the files and prominent Republicans co-sponsoring my bill.
Will people move on from this at any point? It does feel like it’s deep in the American psyche, at the level of the JFK assassination level.
I think this is so offensive to people, the rape of 12- or 13-year-old girls by powerful, rich men, and that they have had no consequence. I think that’s such an offensive thing to the American people, that we won’t move on until we have much more transparency. And it’s a symbol for the impunity with which the rich and powerful have acted in this country over the last 40 years.