US Attorney Ro Khanna drops four of six Epstein-related pleas – The Mercury News
Four days after releasing the names of six men he uncovered in the Epstein files without citing evidence of any wrongdoing, US Attorney Ro Khanna admitted Friday that he mistakenly named four of them who were connected to the late New York banker at the center of a wide-ranging sexual assault scandal.
Khanna, a Silicon Valley Democrat, retracted the names after the Guardian newspaper on Friday quoted a US Justice Department spokesman as saying that Khanna, along with Kentucky Republican US Representative Thomas Massie, “forced the disclosure of random people who were appointed years ago to the FBI.” The four men had “nothing to do” with Epstein, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s office spokesman told the Guardian.
In a social media post on X Friday Khanna acknowledged the Guardian’s report and confirmed “that Salvatore Nuara, Zurab Mikeladze, Leonid Leonov, and Nicola Caputo were just part of the photo lineup and not connected to Epstein’s crimes.”
In a statement on Friday to the Bay Area News Group, Khanna blamed the Department of Justice, saying that it “failed to provide an explanation for their improperly violating the law and removed them without explaining the context that Massie and I had requested,” adding that this is why he and Massie called a “special manager” to oversee the release of the files.
Blanche in a social media post responded that “the ‘problem’ is that you did not come to us, but immediately ran to X and the floor of the House and made false accusations against four men, while we were still looking for the facts.”
Critics were left blank when they responded to Khanna’s post on social media.
“Ro Khanna: ‘How could the DOJ redact these names!’ a poster named Paul Klein, who describes himself as a retired law enforcement officer, responded to Khanna’s position. “Also, Ro Khanna: ‘How dare the DOJ not change the words I insisted they don’t!'”
“So in other words, Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie vilified a bunch of random men as reckless child traffickers. Ro read their names on the House floor – Massie announced they were ‘indicted’ for sex crimes,” said another poster, Michael Tracey. “Uh, just a little wopsie?”
The mistake came after Khanna and Massie, the authors of the bipartisan Epstein Transparency Act passed last fall, were allowed to view several newly redacted documents made available Monday by the Justice Department.
After looking at them, Massie told reporters they found six men “potentially involved,” including Victoria’s Secret billionaire Les Wexner, who had financial ties to Epstein, and Emirati businessman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem. Both of the men’s names have appeared multiple times elsewhere in the files, a Justice Department official told CBS, and the other four men appeared in one photo archive. Wexner’s lawyers told reporters that he was “not a conspirator and not a target” of any Epstein criminal investigation, cooperated with authorities, and has not been contacted since.
Massie said Monday that Sulayem appeared in an email from Epstein thanking him for the “harassment video.” Sulayem resigned as CEO of DP World on Friday.
On Tuesday, Khanna announced the names of all six men on the floor of the US House, saying they were “rich, powerful men that the DOJ covered up for no reason.” He explained that when he pointed out to the Department of Justice on Monday that their names appear to have been blacked out inappropriately, “they have admitted their mistake, and now they have revealed who they are.”
In his letter to X on Friday, Khanna said he wished the department had provided an explanation earlier about the four men’s non-involvement with Epstein “instead of redoing their names and changing them.” In his statement to the Bay Area News Group, Khanna added, “It is unfortunate that the DOJ created confusion that protected the rich and powerful, exposed survivors and exposed men who had nothing to do with Epstein’s crimes.”
Massie, on the other hand, said on X Friday that it was possible during a CNN interview earlier this week that the four men may be part of the list.
“But you released them,” he said of the Justice Department in his capacity. “Maybe you should have asked our people first, or given some context, instead of trying to bash the way I look on TV and blame us.”
Questions about the four men removed from Epstein’s relationship on Friday began to circulate after Khanna read their names as reporters searched and found no reference to the men she described as “rich, powerful.”
The Guardian reported that after one of the men, Salvatore Nuarte of Queens, New York, reached out to Khanna’s office, denying he was involved with Epstein, the congressman’s office sent him an email.
“The Department of Justice has not been forthcoming about what the list was or why it changed it and changed your name,” said an email from Khanna’s communications director Sarah Drory, according to the Guardian. “We will make sure that we are completely honest and truthful when we have these facts and not include any negative impression made by the DoJ.”
The Guardian said it contacted Leonov and that his first name was misspelled as Leonic in the files but his photo and birthday match. He said he was an IT manager in Queens and vehemently denied knowing Epstein. The Guardian was unable to reach Mikeladze or Caputo.
