{"id":2570163,"date":"2026-02-15T12:09:02","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T17:09:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/massie-claims-trump-is-head-of-epstein-administration\/"},"modified":"2026-02-15T12:09:55","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T17:09:55","slug":"massie-claims-trump-is-head-of-epstein-administration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/massie-claims-trump-is-head-of-epstein-administration\/","title":{"rendered":"Massie claims Trump is head of &#8216;Epstein administration&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmassie-claims-trump-is-head-of-epstein-administration%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2570163&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>&#8211; Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) criticized President Trump for a lack of transparency regarding the Epstein files, going as far as too say the Trump management behaves like an \u201cEpstein administration\u201d and accusing Trump of not delivering on promised openness even after a dinner with associates connected to Epstein.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Massie claimed Trump\u2019s transparency pledge was not kept and that the epstein files and related disclosures where being used against him politically, despite the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which aims to compel full, timely disclosure by the DOJ.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; The piece notes scrutiny of high-level Trump aides, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, for past ties to Jeffrey Epstein, and it highlights criticism of Attorney General Pam Bondi during a House Judiciary Committee hearing.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Massie and Rep. Ro Khanna reportedly visited the DOJ to view unredacted Epstein files and alleged that some notable documents had been removed or redacted after their arrival. They named six individuals\u2014Salvatore Nuara, Zurab Mikeladze, Leonic Leonov, Nicola Caputo, sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, and Les Wexner\u2014as examples they believed were likely incriminated in the files.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; DOJ Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche pushed back, saying the four men Massie and Khanna highlighted were limited to a single document and that bondi is responsible for overall document production, not <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-fearing-saudi-arabia-wont-penalize-mbs-after-he-promised-during-election-that-he-would-hold-saudi-leaders-accountable-reports\/\" title=\"Biden, \u2018Fearing\u2019 Saudi Arabia, \u2018Won\u2019t Penalize\u2019 MBS After He Promised During Election That He Would Hold Saudi Leaders Accountable: Reports\">lower-level officials<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; The article frames the issue as a continuing political controversy around the epstein files,with ongoing pressure from Congress to release more complete records,though it notes that no criminal charges have been attributed to Trump or administration officials in relation to Epstein.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Massie rips Trump&rsquo;s lack of transparency on files as head of &lsquo;Epstein administration&rsquo;<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2504777\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Rep. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/thomas-massie\/\">Thomas Massie<\/a> (R-KY) derided President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\">Donald Trump<\/a> for his lack of transparency related to the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/epstein-files\/\">Epstein files<\/a>, going so far as to claim the president is in charge of the &ldquo;Epstein administration.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Donald Trump told us that even though he had dinner with these kinds of people in New York City and West Palm Beach, that he would be transparent, but he&rsquo;s not,&rdquo; the congressman <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/atrupar\/status\/2023049178251673777?s=46\">said<\/a> on the ABC News Sunday morning news program <em>This Week<\/em>. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s still in with the Epstein class. This is the Epstein administration, and they&rsquo;re attacking me for trying to get these files released.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4458635\/khanna-doj-epstein-files-names-janis-joplin\/\">Khanna says DOJ &#8216;muddying the waters&#8217; on Epstein files by naming Janis Joplin in letter<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4456909\/doj-failed-side-quests-undercut-trump-accountability\/\">DOJ&rsquo;s failed side quests could undercut Trump&rsquo;s accountability message<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/4458130\/two-men-convicted-isis-plot-kill-hundreds-uk-jews\/\">Two men convicted for ISIS-inspired plot to kill hundreds of Jews in UK<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Within the Trump administration, Commerce Secretary <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/howard-lutnick\/\">Howard Lutnick<\/a> and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/dr-mehmet-oz\/\">Mehmet Oz<\/a> are facing scrutiny for their past relationship with <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/jeffrey-epstein\/\">Jeffrey Epstein<\/a>, the extent of which is seen in the files.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4458635\/khanna-doj-epstein-files-names-janis-joplin\/\">KHANNA SAYS DOJ &lsquo;MUDDYING THE WATERS&rsquo; ON EPSTEIN FILES BY NAMING JANIS JOPLIN IN LETTER<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Neither administration official nor Trump has been accused of any criminal behavior in relation to Epstein&rsquo;s sexual crimes.<\/p>\n<p>Since returning to the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/white-house\/\">White House<\/a> last year, Trump has tried to distance himself from his past relationship with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bail-fund-praised-by-kamala-harris-has-twice-freed-the-same-rioter-he-was-just-charged-again\/\" title=\"Bail Fund Praised By Kamala Harris Has Twice Freed The Same Rioter. He Was Just Charged Again.\">convicted sex offender<\/a>. At several points, he claimed Democrats were pushing the Epstein files as a &ldquo;hoax&rdquo; to undermine his administration.<\/p>\n<p>Trump later signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act, a bill passed by Congress to compel the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/justice-department\/\">Department of Justice<\/a> to release all Epstein-related records in full and in a timely manner, as a way to expose Democrats&rsquo; ties to the late financier.<\/p>\n<p>The DOJ maintains it is complying with the law by disclosing millions of records, but members of Congress continue to apply pressure on the department&rsquo;s leadership.<\/p>\n<p>Massie, for one, was not fond of answers made by Attorney General <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/pam-bondi\/\">Pam Bondi<\/a> during a contentious hearing in front of the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/house-judiciary-committee\/\">House Judiciary Committee<\/a> on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>Asked on ABC if he has confidence in Bondi as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-ag-barr-authorizes-federal-prosecutors-to-pursue-substantial-allegations-of-voting-irregularities-before-2020-election-is-certified\/\" title=\"BREAKING: AG Barr Authorizes Federal Prosecutors to Pursue &quot;Substantial Allegations&quot; of Voting Irregularities Before 2020 Election is Certified\">attorney general<\/a>, Massie replied, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think Pam Bondi has confidence in Pam Bondi. She wasn&rsquo;t confident enough to engage in anything but name-calling in a hearing. And so no, I don&rsquo;t have confidence in her.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/4447701\/epstein-files-implode-british-politics-peter-mandelson-prince-andrew\/\">EPSTEIN FILES IMPLODE BRITISH POLITICS WITH &lsquo;BIGGEST SCANDAL&rsquo; IN &lsquo;OVER ONE CENTURY&rsquo;<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Kentucky Republican cited Bondi&rsquo;s evasive response to his question about the redaction of former Victoria&rsquo;s Secret CEO Les Wexner&rsquo;s name from a certain document.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;She wouldn&rsquo;t give me an answer,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But ultimately, it&rsquo;s her who is responsible for the document production,&rdquo; not Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.<\/p>\n<p>Blanche is seen as the DOJ&rsquo;s public face in releasing the Epstein files. Massie argues Bondi can&rsquo;t assign her responsibility to lower-level officials, according to the transparency law he co-led with Rep. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/ro-khanna\/\">Ro Khanna<\/a> (D-CA) late last year.<\/p>\n<p>Massie and Khanna both visited the DOJ headquarters in <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/washington-dc\/\">Washington, D.C.<\/a>, last Monday to view the unredacted versions of the Epstein files. One of their takeaways was that the department allegedly &ldquo;took down&rdquo; some documents before their arrival.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;They took down some of the most significant documents,&rdquo; including two &ldquo;involving Virginia Giuffre&rsquo;s case&rdquo; and a &ldquo;picture of Epstein in a room where it&rsquo;s got CIA written on the boxes,&rdquo; Massie added. &ldquo;We want to be able to look at all these files. They can&rsquo;t keep those documents down after they&rsquo;ve already produced them.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/daily-memo\/4457548\/epstein-mess-good-and-bad-news-trump\/\"><strong>BYRON YORK: IN THE EPSTEIN MESS, GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS FOR TRUMP<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>After seeing some of the files himself, Khanna <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/4453546\/khanna-names-six-men-redacted-epstein-files\/\">read the names<\/a> of six men who were improperly redacted from the publicly available Epstein files. On the House floor, the Democrat said the six men were Salvatore Nuara, Zurab Mikeladze, Leonic Leonov, Nicola Caputo, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, and Wexner. Massie and Khanna <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/4451951\/massie-khanna-doj-redacted-incriminated-names-epstein-files\/\">believe the men<\/a> were &ldquo;likely incriminated&rdquo; in the files.<\/p>\n<p>Blanche was displeased with Massie and Khanna for revealing the names of the six men, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DAGToddBlanche\/status\/2022481320597704863\">claiming on social media<\/a> that they &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hot-mic-fauci-calls-republican-senator-a-moron\/\" title=\"HOT MIC: Fauci Calls Republican Senator A \u2018Moron\u2019\">made false accusations<\/a> about four men, while we were checking the facts.&rdquo; In a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DAGToddBlanche\/status\/2022412340969308479\">prior post<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >deputy attorney general<\/a> said those four men &ldquo;were only included in that one document out of all the files,&rdquo; while Wexner and Sultan bin Sulayem &ldquo;were unredacted in the one document, and are referenced in the files nearly two hundred times and over 4,700 times respectively.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Massie: Trump lacks transparency on Epstein files<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2159,"featured_media":2570164,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AP26042634073791.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651,538],"tags":[9006,4850,5894,3634],"class_list":["post-2570163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","category-washington-examiner","tag-epstein","tag-massie","tag-politics","tag-trump"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AP26042634073791.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2570163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2159"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2570163"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2570163\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2570167,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2570163\/revisions\/2570167"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2570164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2570163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2570163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2570163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}