The US Justice Department opened the unredacted Jeffrey Epstein files to review by members of Congress, as several politicians expressed concern that some names have been removed from the publicly released records.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act (EFTA), passed overwhelmingly by Congress in November, compelled the Justice Department to release all of the documents in its possession related to the convicted sex offender.
It required the redaction of the names or any other personally identifiable information about Epstein's victims, who numbered more than 1,000 according to the FBI.
But it said no records could be "withheld, delayed, or redacted on the basis of embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity, including to any government official, public figure, or foreign dignitary."
Representative Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California, is among the members of the House of Representatives questioning some of the redactions in the more than three million documents released by the Justice Department.
Mr Khanna posted examples on his Facebook page.
The name of the sender of a 17 January 2013 email to Epstein is blacked out in the released files.
"New Brazilian just arrived, sexy and cute, =9yo," the message says.
The name of the sender of a 11 March 2014 email to Epstein is also redacted.
"Thank you for a fun night," the message says. "Your littlest girl was a little naughty."
Mr Khanna said the names of the senders of the emails need to be revealed.
"Concealing the reputations of these powerful men is a blatant violation of the Epstein Transparency Act," he said.
Epstein, who had ties to business executives, politicians, celebrities and academics, was found dead in his New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking minor girls.
Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's former girlfriend, is the only person convicted of a crime in connection with Epstein. She was convicted in 2021 of sex trafficking underage girls to the financier and is serving a 20-year prison sentence.
Maxwell today refused to answer questions from a US congressional committee, invoking her legal right against self-incrimination, politicians have said.
Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking, was subpoenaed to testify before the House Oversight Committee to discuss her relations with the disgraced financier.
Republican committee chairman James Comer said Maxwell had invoked her right to not incriminate herself, guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution.
"As expected, Ghislaine Maxwell took the fifth and refused to answer any questions," Mr Comer told reporters. "This is obviously very disappointing."
"We had many questions to ask about the crimes she and Epstein committed as well as questions about potential co-conspirators," he said.
Maxwell's lawyers told the House panel that the former British socialite was prepared to testify only if she was first granted clemency by President Donald Trump, Mr Comer said.
The lawyers had pushed for Congress to grant her legal immunity in order to testify, but lawmakers refused.
Maxwell is the only person convicted of a crime in connection with Epstein, who died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking.
The 64-year-old Maxwell was convicted in 2021 of supplying underage girls to the wealthy financier, who had ties to top business executives, politicians, celebrities and academics.
Maxwell was scheduled to testify virtually from the Texas prison where she is serving her sentence.
Her deposition comes amid the release by the Justice Department of millions of documents, photographs and videos related to the investigation into Epstein.
The Justice Department has said no new prosecutions are expected but a number of political and business leaders have been tarnished by scandal or resigned after their ties with Epstein were revealed in the files.
The House committee has also summoned former Democratic president Bill Clinton and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton to testify about their interactions with Epstein.
The Clintons have called for their depositions to be held publicly to prevent Republicans from politicising their testimony.
Mr Trump was once a close friend of Epstein but has not been called to testify by the House Oversight Committee, which is led by members of his Republican Party.
Neither the Clintons nor Mr Trump have been accused of any wrongdoing related to Epstein.
Last year, Maxwell was moved to a minimum-security prison in Texas after meeting twice with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who previously served as Mr Trump's personal lawyer.
