Will the DOJ act on Epstein co-conspirators list issued by Massie?

( NewsNation ) — Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., took to the House floor for one minute Monday to list potential co-conspirators of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Massie said it has been a year since President Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act and the government continues to withhold more than 3 million files from the public. In light of this, the Kentucky Republican noted the Epstein Files Transparency Act II has been introduced to “bring the fight to the state courts, accountability to the Department of Justice and closure for survivors.”

He added, “We want perpetrators of these crimes to be investigated and prosecuted.”

However, an attorney who represents nearly a dozen Epstein survivors isn’t expecting much, if any, action on Massie’s recommendations from the DOJ.

“I applaud Thomas Massie for releasing those names on the House floor. It is important to remember, however, that the DOJ has been in possession of these names for quite some time and has done nothing with that information but withhold it,” said Arick Fudal, who represents 11 Epstein survivors.

“It is certainly a positive step for those names to be released, but unless Trump believes it will help him politically, I don’t expect his DOJ to do anything to help the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirators achieve justice,” he continued.

Former Playboy Playmate Audra Christiansen , who detailed the alleged sexual abuse and sex trafficking she says she endured from Epstein in 2004, told NewsNation, “As a survivor, I’m grateful to Rep. Massie for being willing to say these names publicly on the House floor and demand that potential co-conspirators be investigated.

“It is obvious to me that Jeffrey Epstein did not act alone, both from my own lived experience and from what the files themselves reveal. Survivors have been asking for years why the investigation seemed to stop with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell when there is so much evidence pointing to a much larger network of people around them,” she said.

Christiansen added while there is intense public interest in the Epstein files, for survivors such as herself, “this has never just been about releasing names for public consumption. It is about accountability, examining who participated, who facilitated, who enabled, who knew what was happening and whether anyone was protected from scrutiny. Rep. Massie putting these questions into the Congressional Record matters.”

“Now, the Department of Justice needs to show survivors everywhere that no individual is above investigation and that coming forward still means something,” Christiansen told NewsNation.

Jess Michaels, who alleged she was first abused by Epstein in 1991, also weighed in.

“Glad to hear the names read on the House floor by Thomas Massie, but make no mistake, this was not an exhaustive list or a spectacular feat of justice,” she said. “This is scraping the floor of the bare minimum while survivors continue to wait.”

Who did Massie name as Epstein co-conspirators?

Massie’s list included Jes Staley; Leon Black ; Les Wexner ; David Copperfield; Lapo Elkann; Thomas Pritzker; Glenn Dubin; Frederic Fekkai; Eduardo Teodorani, Jean-Luc Brunel, who was charged in France for the sexual harassment and rape of minors, and died by suicide in February 2022; Daniel Siad, who recently died; Ramsey Elkholy; former Prince Andrew, now Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor ; and former longtime Epstein assistant Lesley Groff.

The lawmaker — whose term ends in January after he lost his primary for reelection earlier this year — said releasing the names may “shame the Department of Justice into delivering justice.”

Staley, Black, Wexner and Groff have all been questioned by the House Oversight Committee over their connections to Epstein and denied wrongdoing, as have other individuals listed by Massie.

Mountbatten-Windsor is under investigation in the United Kingdom regarding suspicion of misconduct in public office.

Names appearing in the DOJ’s Epstein documents also do not indicate evidence of a crime. Only Ghislaine Maxwell has been criminally charged in connection with Epstein in the U.S. She is currently serving a 20-year federal prison term.

The DOJ did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication.

Diana Falzone is the senior national investigations reporter at NewsNation Digital, covering the federal government, warzones and top-level criminal investigations.