Ro Khanna’s cowardly attack

Ro Khanna didn’t care who he trampled in the stampede to smear President Donald Trump.

In this case, it was four innocent men — who may struggle to clear their names, because Khanna attacked them behind the shield of parliamentary privilege, abusing his congressional powers.

It started last week, when Khanna took to the floor of the House of Representatives to deliver a thundering speech naming six “wealthy, powerful” men who he said were “likely incriminated” in the Jeffrey Epstein files. 

He and Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky — a Republican who is often at odds with Trump — declared that they had discovered the names of the six when they went to the Department of Justice to pore through the unredacted version of the notorious files.

Khanna must have known that he had no proof that any of the six had done anything wrong, because he waited to reveal their names until he was speaking in Congress. 

Khanna knew that the Constitution’s famous Speech and Debate Clause would shield him from any defamation lawsuits. As Article I, Section 6, Clause 1 states: members of Congress “shall not be questioned in any other Place” for “any Speech or Debate in either House.”

The problem: four of the six had nothing to do with Epstein whatsoever. One is an information technology manager in Queens. Another one is a mechanic. They are neither rich nor powerful.

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Khanna tried to blame the DOJ for the fact that he smeared several innocent men. “I wish DOJ had provided that explanation earlier instead of redacting then unredacting their names,” he posted on X. 

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche retorted: “The ‘problem’ is that you didn’t come to us, but immediately ran to X and the House floor and made false accusations about four men, while we were checking the facts.”

The real problem is that Khanna likely has presidential ambitions, and wants his place in the spotlight. 

That’s why he has suddenly backed the “billionaire tax,” despite the fact that it would target some of his own Silicon Valley constituents.

He wanted to play hero in the Epstein saga. And if some innocent people had to suffer — too bad. 

Critics noted Khanna’s hypocrisy: he took thousands of dollars in donations from billionaire Democrat donor Reid Hoffman, who met with Epstein several times, and visited his island.

Khanna’s behavior is a reminder about why we have procedural safeguards in place to protect the privacy of people whose names come up during criminal investigations, as well as untested evidence in grand jury proceedings. 

It’s also a reminder of how low our politics has fallen.

And Khanna may wish to consult his own lawyers: speech on the House floor is protected, but posts on social media may not be. 

He quoted his House floor speech in a post from his official account on X, publicizing the names of the six men beyond the Capitol. They may have a case. 

Certainly, in the court of public opinion, Khanna deserves a harsh verdict.