Les Wexner testifies on Epstein before House panel

Billionaire art collector Les Wexner testified Wednesday before members of the U.S. House Oversight Committee in a closed-door deposition at his estate in New Albany, Ohio, about his long financial relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

"There is no single person that was more involved in providing Jeffrey Epstein with the financial support to commit his crimes than Les Wexner,” Rep. Robert Garcia, the ranking Democrat on the committee, said in a televised press conference afterward.

Garcia, posting on social media, added that the deposition clarified the scope of Wexner’s relationship with Epstein.

“Today’s deposition made one thing clear: There would be no Epstein Island, no Epstein plane, and no money to traffic girls without the financial assistance of Les Wexner,” he said.

“We are committed to ending this White House cover-up, which protects criminals and billionaire benefactors.”

Lawmakers are expected to release video footage and a transcript of the deposition.

“He’s a competent witness,” Rep. Stephen Lynch said at the press conference. “He’s just not telling the truth.”

A representative for the 88-year-old Wexner provided other news outlets with his prepared remarks delivered during the deposition. In them, Wexner denied any wrongdoing and expressed that he had always been faithful to his wife, Abigail.

“Let me state from the start: I was naive, foolish, and gullible to put any trust in Jeffrey Epstein. He was a con man. And while I was conned, I have done nothing wrong and have nothing to hide,” Wexner said. “And, let me be crystal clear: I never witnessed nor had any knowledge of Epstein’s criminal activity.”

Wexner is known for having a long financial relationship with Epstein through the 1980s until he said he severed ties with him in 2007, which has led to scrutiny as authorities investigate ties between the former financier and his associates.

Epstein was arrested on multiple charges, including sex trafficking, in July 2019 and died in a federal detention facility in New York City the following month.

Last week, lawmakers revealed previously redacted names in the Justice Department’s Epstein files, which revealed that Wexner had previously been identified as a co-conspirator, though he has never been charged with any crime related to Epstein.

Virginia Giuffre, the prominent Epstein accuser who died by suicide last year, previously alleged in 2016 that she was trafficked to Wexner. Wexner has denied any wrongdoing.

And earlier this month, Epstein files released by the U.S. Justice Department showed that the FBI received unverified tips naming Wexner amid investigations into Epstein.

“To be clear, never once in 36 years have I been unfaithful to Abigail in any way, shape, or form. Never. Any suggestion to the contrary is absolutely and entirely false,” Wexner said in his prepared remarks. “Again, to be clear, I never saw or heard about Epstein being in the company of a minor girl.”

Recently released Epstein files also confirmed that federal authorities, in a March 2019 email, had requested photographs of people connected to Epstein. In it, agents listed “Leslie Wexner, (Ohio),” alongside Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, placing him on their radar before Epstein’s arrest in July 2019.

Around the time of Epstein’s arrest, the documents show federal authorities tried to contact Wexner for a subpoena in relation to Epstein.

A lawyer for Wexner indicated at the time that his office had been attempting to obtain a criminal defense attorney in New York for Wexner, who was planning to submit to an interview with FBI agents. The drafting agent was told that subpoena service was no longer required because Wexner’s lawyer was coordinating the interview.

Among the most scrutinized ties between Epstein and Wexner have centered on confusion around the ownership of the Manhattan townhouse where Epstein abused his victims.

Internal correspondence shows that questions about ownership of the Manhattan property mattered to investigators because they were trying to determine who controlled the building during the period when Epstein lived there, according to the records.

“So did he own it that entire time, rather than Wexner, as had been advertised??” the prosecutor asked. “Or did Wexner own it through a corporation for which Epstein was the president until 2012?”

Wexner told lawmakers Wednesday that after he sold the townhouse to Epstein, he “never set foot in that house again.” In his deposition, Wexner also admitted to visiting Epstein’s infamous private island Little St. James “only once.”

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