[0:00]Well, first of all, thank you all for being here. My name is Robert Garcia. I am the ranking member,
[0:05]the lead democrat on the Oversight Committee and I'm here with many of our colleagues from
[0:09]the Oversight Committee. We're all going to make some brief remarks. I'll introduce them all and
[0:15]then I'll open it up for a couple questions and then we've got to, our deposition is continuing
[0:21]so we've got to continue that throughout the day. So let me just, first of all, just give a
[0:25]couple of overviews. So we are right now in the middle of a deposition of Mr. Les Wexner.
[0:32]We are doing the deposition at his estate here. Right now we are just now about two hours into
[0:41]that deposition. We are on a break and we will be going back into the deposition for the
[0:46]rest of the afternoon. So to be very clear, we'll be providing an update now but there are
[0:52]many many questions that we have to ask of Mr. Wexner that are important to our investigation
[0:59]and so that questioning will happen throughout the day as this day moves forward. We're here
[1:06]because we want to talk to anyone that has information about Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine
[1:11]Maxwell's crime, abuse, and trafficking of women and girls. There is no single person
[1:20]that was more involved in providing Jeffrey Epstein with the financial support to commit
[1:25]his crimes than Les Wexner. That is already, as we all know, in the public record. We've also
[1:32]directly heard from survivors about Mr. Wexner, about his involvement, and their concerns as to
[1:41]the enormous amount of money that was essentially transferred over and paid to by Mr. Epstein.
[1:49]To be very clear, we know of approximately over a billion dollars it looks like. It's about a
[1:57]billion dollars that was either transferred, provided in stocks, or given directly to Mr. Epstein
[2:05]by Wexner. Now it's important to note that Mr. Wexner appears to be unaware
[2:13]of much of the money, as he claims, that was given over to Mr. Epstein. In fact, it's
[2:20]interesting that Mr. Wexner has already begun to clarify in his mind that somehow he and Mr.
[2:25]Epstein weren't even friends. We should be very clear that the two were very close,
[2:33]per reporting. They spent a lot of time together. Mr. Wexner admitted that he
[2:39]traveled to both Epstein's island as well as his other properties. Mr. Wexner also admitted that
[2:47]Jeffrey Epstein had access to a lot of Mr. Wexner's wealth. And when asked even simple
[2:55]questions, even as it relates to Mr. Epstein being the co-president of the foundation that
[3:02]established the area that we're in today, Mr. Wexner had little to say. In fact, it's
[3:08]clear that Mr. Wexner is trying to downplay how close Jeffrey Epstein and Mr. Wexner actually
[3:17]were. And we should be very clear that there would be no Epstein island, there would be no
[3:23]Epstein plane, there would be no money to traffic women and girls. Mr. Epstein would
[3:29]not be the wealthy man he was without the support of Les Wexner. I think it's very
[3:37]important for us to note at this moment. There's a significant amount of questioning
[3:41]that has gone on, but I want to say one other thing and then I'm going to turn it over.
[3:46]We are committed to ending this cover-up. Right now as we speak, over 50% of the Epstein
[3:55]files have not been released to the public and to the Congress. Donald Trump and
[4:01]Pam Bondi are leading a White House cover-up to protect billionaire wealthy benefactors,
[4:08]whether it's Mr. Wexner or whether it's anybody else. And that has to end now,
[4:13]which is why we're here and why we're willing to go anywhere and to speak to anyone
[4:18]with information about Jeffrey Epstein's horrific crimes. So we have a lot of questions for
[4:22]Mr. Wexner and we look forward to sharing those with all of you as well today. So with
[4:25]that, let me turn this over to Congressman Steve Lynch. Thank you, Robert. Thank you
[4:30]for your leadership. It's important to remember that all the evidence, the documentary evidence
[4:38]that we've received so far, much of it points to this witness and Les Wexner's involvement.
[4:47]As Robert has laid out, the financial wherewithal for Epstein to operate in New York City,
[4:56]to operate in Florida, the Virgin Islands, the ability to travel, and in some cases,
[5:03]his own credibility. There was a period there where Epstein was saying that he was
[5:07]closely involved with Wexner's operation, several of his Victoria's Secret,
[5:15]that he was involved in that process as well. So in a very real way, Les Wexner gave
[5:22]Epstein credibility and gave him the ability to commit some of the crimes that he did.
[5:29]One of the witnesses, one of the victims, the survivors, has already indicated that
[5:35]she was assaulted at this facility, at the mansion here, Wexner's home here,
[5:43]that she was refused permission to leave that house until security had cleared that,
[5:53]that she was kept there for several hours. So in an investigation, you usually follow the
[6:00]documents and you follow the money, and much of that evidence and all of that money leads us
[6:10]to this location. So far, and I'm just speaking generally,
[6:17]the more this deposition goes on, the less Wexner knows about his relationship with Jeffrey
[6:27]Epstein. There was a deep trust between these two men. There was a deep friendship there,
[6:34]not only in a business sense, but Les Wexner gave Epstein the ability to handle his children's
[6:42]and his family's money. So at least that part of it, that part of it makes it hard to believe
[6:52]Les Wexner's testimony thus far. It may be a question as to whether Les Wexner was involved
[7:04]in the crimes directly, but there is no question in my mind, given the evidence so far,
[7:11]that Les Wexner knew about this and failed to stop it and gave Epstein license and the
[7:20]ability to commit these crimes. We've done something that the Department of Justice has
[7:31]failed to do. We have actually sat down and listened, not once, not twice, but on multiple
[7:38]occasions to the survivors. As you saw last week, AG Bondi wouldn't even turn and look
[7:45]at the survivors, let alone allow her DOJ to do their job, which is to investigate.
[7:51]So here we are as the legislative branch doing our jobs and trying to do oversight.
[7:57]Let me tell you, the survivors have said over and over and over, follow the money. That was
[8:03]the one thing that they told us, as well as their attorneys, follow the money. Well,
[8:07]we're following the money, but I'm going to be perfectly honest with you and tell you that we
[8:11]are running into dead ends at this moment. On yesterday, I was asked about this particular
[8:17]deposition and what I anticipated I would hear. As a trained attorney and litigator,
[8:24]once they told me he wasn't taking the fifth, I thought that the record would be full of
[8:28]I don't remember. I will tell you that once this record comes out, you will see that you
[8:34]most likely will be left with more questions than answers. It is almost inconceivable to be
[8:40]missing the amounts of money that are missing and somehow Mr. Wexner have no idea. The other
[8:50]thing that I want you to pay attention to, because again, as a trained litigator, think
[8:55]about some of the themes that we keep hearing. We know that there were supposedly these fraudulent
[9:01]modeling agencies that were set up all over the country and girls would go in thinking
[9:06]that they were going to get their chance at modeling. Victoria's Secret, we know
[9:11]Victoria's Secret was known specifically for their fashion shows. We know that there are
[9:17]we know that there are reports of girls that went in thinking that they were potentially going in
[9:22]to model. These are not coincidences. There's two things that have been clear,
[9:28]is that there were always young girls seemingly looking for an opportunity to model
[9:33]and there were always rich and powerful people on the other side, dangling a carrot,
[9:40]saying, I will give you the life that you're seeking. Yet, ultimately, the stories are the
[9:47]same. They're stories of abuse. They're stories of trafficking at the highest level.
[9:53]And I will tell you one thing that was remembered for sure was when asked about
[9:58]Donald Trump, Donald Trump and Epstein and whether or not they had been in the same room
[10:05]and what that looked like. He didn't quite remember, but he imagined that, yes, that
[10:10]possibly happened because he did remember that Donald Trump also would like to show up to
[10:16]the Victoria's Secret runway shows. Now, that was a little odd to him, he said,
[10:22]because Donald Trump was not engaged in fashion whatsoever. But he does recall that.
[10:28]He also said something that I feel like we've heard over and over and over,
[10:33]which is that Epstein liked to drop people's names. So he'd imagine that that may have been
[10:39]one of the names that he dropped. Listen, I want the American people, but more specifically,
[10:46]I want the survivors and anyone who is struggling right now to know that we see you, we feel you,
[10:51]and we are fighting for you. We will not stop. If Mr. Wexner is honest about his intentions
[10:59]in helping us, then we're asking him if he doesn't remember, then go ahead and turn over
[11:04]all your financial records, because we need to follow the money. Because that is exactly what
[11:11]the survivors told us to do. And we know that the Department of Justice is either inadequate
[11:18]or just not interested in doing justice as it relates to this particular scenario.
[11:25]We in America deserve better. We are looking around the country and we're seeing CEOs
[11:32]that are having to leave their own companies. We're seeing people that are having to leave
[11:36]their board positions. We're seeing princes being dethroned. We're seeing all kinds of
[11:42]stuff everywhere except for right here at the highest levels of federal government,
[11:49]whether we're talking about Donald Trump himself, or whether we're talking about
[11:52]Secretary Lutnick. And the list goes on. We deserve better in this country and we will get it.
[12:01]Good morning. You know, over the course of the last year, the American public has been
[12:08]witnessing what I can only call the most egregious coverup in American history.
[12:14]And today was a critical part of our investigation to try to end this coverup once and for all.
[12:20]We have met with the victims of Jeffrey Epstein,
[12:23]Ghislaine Maxwell, and the rich and powerful people that help to perpetuate these crimes.
[12:29]And we have heard over and over from these victims the name of Les Wexner and the
[12:34]importance of following the money. Because the story of Jeffrey Epstein is one that
[12:40]can almost, you know, almost is the plot of a movie that is turned into a nightmare.
[12:48]And the real reason Jeffrey Epstein was able to get away with raping and abusing children,
[12:55]young women, boys, young men for so many years was because of the vast amounts of money that
[13:02]he was able to acquire. And that largely came from Les Wexner here in Ohio. So we're here to
[13:08]ask Les Wexner the critical questions. And it's been very interesting to see the types of
[13:14]responses that he's giving and his demeanor throughout the interview. He claims to want
[13:19]to provide information and to be helpful in the investigation, but then quickly follows up by
[13:25]saying that he does not recall details around a relationship with somebody that he had for
[13:31]decades. Les Wexner handed his power of attorney to Jeffrey Epstein. He allowed Jeffrey
[13:39]Epstein to live in his homes, to have hundreds of millions of his dollars, to use his yachts and
[13:44]his planes. This was obviously a very, very close relationship. And so far what we have seen
[13:51]is a denial of that relationship. Another important theme that has come up today is that
[13:57]Les Wexner is actually tied to other sex trafficking and child abuse scandals here
[14:04]in Ohio, around the country. There are reports of payments that were made to a gynecologist
[14:11]at Ohio State University. And that money went through Jeffrey Epstein but came from Les Wexner.
[14:19]And he has been asked about this with no real response, no recollection. And again,
[14:25]as my colleagues have said, I don't think it is feasible or understandable or conceivable
[14:32]that any individual would not have an understanding of millions if not hundreds of
[14:37]millions of dollars of their own money and can't answer to those questions.
[14:41]So it is clear that this coverup is vast. It goes as high as the White House and the
[14:47]Department of Justice that still has not released the majority of the Epstein files,
[14:52]still has illegally redacted information, still has not begun any indictments or
[14:57]prosecutions for the very credible allegations that are in the files that we already have seen
[15:04]all the way to people at universities and companies and vast networks of elite
[15:10]individuals across this country. And what I can tell you very clearly is that oversight
[15:14]Democrats on this committee will not back down until we get every detail, until every person
[15:23]who enabled and perpetrated these crimes is held accountable. Thank you.
[15:31]Hi, everyone. Dave Mann, freshman member of Congress at Orange County, California.
[15:35]And before getting into office, I was a law professor, a graduate of Harvard Law School,
[15:41]and earlier in my career, I was an SEC enforcement attorney. So I've done quite
[15:45]a few of these types of depositions and witness interviews. And while I don't want
[15:49]to comment on an ongoing deposition, we're going to go back in there and ask more
[15:53]questions. I can basically say that he has basically alleged that he saw no evil,
[15:58]heard no evil, despite being in the room with Jeffrey Epstein over and over and over.
[16:03]And it's really just not credible. I realize he's an elderly gentleman.
[16:07]Memories fade. But the reputation of Jeffrey Epstein is very clear. Everyone around Jeffrey
[16:13]Epstein knew exactly what he's up to. And to spend that much time to give that much
[16:17]trust to Jeffrey Epstein, and then to say, I don't remember seeing any young girls,
[16:22]I didn't hear anything about Jeffrey Epstein. It really is just not plausible.
[16:27]And so we're going to keep digging. But I want to just echo the comments earlier.
[16:29]This is a bit frustrating because we're not getting real answers to the questions
[16:33]that the American people deserve answers to. I also just want to give kudos to my
[16:38]colleagues behind me right here. Robert Garcia and the Democrats on the Oversight Committee
[16:43]have led the effort to try to expose this cover-up. What we've seen is foot dragging.
[16:48]We've seen, if you remember back to Pam Bondi saying that this was all a hoax and
[16:51]a cover-up, that there were no Epstein files. Due to the efforts of Ranking Member Garcia,
[16:57]we have been able to pierce that myth. We're getting more answers, but we've got a lot of
[17:01]work to do. And we'll just add, it is very frustrating the fact that there are no Republicans
[17:07]here today. I wish there were Republicans because sex trafficking should not be a D
[17:12]versus R issue. It should be a bipartisan issue. Everybody should be invested in finding
[17:16]the truth right now. And the fact that we've had so little cooperation from the
[17:21]Republicans on the House Oversight Committee, that the DOJ has actively tried to obstruct this
[17:26]investigation, that is shameful and it will go down as a permanent mark on the records of
[17:31]people like Pam Bondi and Donald Trump. Now I'll just close with this. When I got off the
[17:36]plane, I saw Wexner's name all over the place. His name is on buildings, it's on medical
[17:42]centers. And you immediately realize when you come to Columbus, what a powerful individual this
[17:47]is. But I just want to say that no matter how rich or powerful you are, America stands for
[17:53]the principle that there's one rule of law that applies to anybody and everybody equally.
[17:58]And so whether Wexner is rich and powerful, whether Jeffrey Epstein or Donald Trump or
[18:02]Howard Lucknick are rich and powerful should not matter. We're going to get the answers.
[18:07]People will be brought to justice. We will not rest until that happens. Thanks.
[18:12]Thank you. And before I answer a couple of questions, let me add two things that
[18:15]are really important. One is it's been clear to us, at least the way Mr. Wexner has presented
[18:21]this, that he, according to him, has not been or was questioned by the FBI or the DOJ
[18:30]about Mr. Epstein. How outrageous is that? He's someone that's been named by survivors,
[18:39]someone that's in the files more than most people, someone that's clearly the financial
[18:46]benefactor to Jeffrey Epstein and has not been contacted or interviewed by the FBI or the DOJ.
[18:54]What the hell is going on? That is shameful. We should be ashamed as a government.
[19:03]The survivors deserve justice. And so that's something that we are going to continue to
[19:08]press today and certainly press with Pam Bondi and the DOJ. And the second thing,
[19:15]something that I think is critical to all of us, I think this community should also be
[19:21]asking questions. This community deserves to know why the most powerful man and one
[19:28]of the richest men, if not the richest man in Ohio, gave so much of his wealth to the
[19:36]largest modern sex trafficking ring in American history, why his money was used to traffic,
[19:44]abuse and rape women and children. And so I think this community has questions of Mr. Wexner.
[19:54]Ohio State should have questions of Mr. Wexner and Mr. Wexner's involvement in our questions.
[20:02]Today's not the end of our questions for Mr. Wexner. It's the beginning of our questions
[20:07]for Mr. Wexner and anyone in this community across Ohio or the country
[20:12]that has done business dealings or that knows why he provided so much money
[20:18]for Jeffrey Epstein to then go on and commit all these horrible crimes.
[20:20]We can answer a couple of questions.
[20:55]So let me start by saying that I personally, I think, I do not believe
[20:59]when Mr. Wexner says that he did not have a personal relationship or a friendly relationship
[21:04]with Jeffrey Epstein. I think that is bogus, personally. And I think I can also say that we
[21:12]believe the survivors. And I think the farmer testimony is critical. And what happened to not
[21:21]just Maria but to Annie and the farmer women was horrific. And this idea that she gave such
[21:29]a description of what happened to her, and we should just dismiss that as a lie or untrue,
[21:33]I think is outrageous. There's no question in my mind that there was a relationship
[21:38]and that Mr. Wexner is very aware and likely aware of what was going on.
[21:44]There have been questions that have been asked about the farmer incident
[21:46]and that will continue in the afternoon. Yes.
[22:02]He's not pleaded the fifth. I think that he's answering some questions. He's
[22:06]saying that he doesn't remember and other questions.
[22:08]So you know evil here, no evil.
[22:10]Exactly. He's claiming that there's basically was no friendship with
[22:15]Jeffrey Epstein or no real strong relationship, which we know by reporting that's just not true.
[22:21]It's pretty ridiculous. Do you want to add to that?
[22:22]As it relates to the lawyers, specifically, there's a lot of objections.
[22:26]A lot of objections. Any other questions? Yes.
[22:27]Les Wexner, if he admitted to this and shared about his activities along the island
[22:33]and Annie and both of them. Yeah, go ahead, Jess.
[22:36]Yeah, I asked that question today. He claimed that he was on the island for one hour
[22:42]and that he walked around with his family and I asked him if any other individuals were there
[22:46]and he said no. And that was a kind of a repetitive thing that he said as well when
[22:51]we asked about if he had been to another property. He said I was there for one hour
[22:56]and I go to many places for just one hour.
[22:59]And did he speak about any involvement with survivors?
[23:04]No. He denied everything.
[23:05]Not everything. And quite frankly, it would have been nice to have seen more remorse.
[23:08]Yes. Mr. Wexner is 88 years old. He's also been missing Wexner Medical Center board meetings
[23:15]where he's shared. Can you describe his demeanor, how he is? He's an elderly gentleman.
[23:20]I'm pretty sure. Do you want to add that?
[23:21]It's pretty sure. Well, I think he's lucid. I think he's certainly capable of
[23:27]answering these questions. There's no deterioration in his mental faculties.
[23:32]So he's a competent witness. He's just not telling the truth.
[23:42]Deposition locations are decided by the majority party and that was decided to have it here.
[23:48]Will this deposition even matter if Pam Bondi and the DOJ are not taking this as a mean focus?
[23:56]Look, I think that we have my first answer is yes. This deposition absolutely does matter
[24:00]and it's important to get remember Mr. Wexner is under oath to tell the truth.
[24:06]So every single answer that he gives is a broader part of our investigation. This is
[24:11]just the beginning of our work with and trying to get the truth on Mr. Wexner.
[24:15]And so that it absolutely matters. Any final questions?
[24:17]What happens when the DOJ doesn't do anything with it?
[24:20]Well, that's up to the President Trump, which we're putting the pressure on. Yes.
[24:28]Anybody want to answer that? What's that?
[24:30]Credibility issue. Look, I think at the end of the day,
[24:34]we need to ask the questions and get Mr. Wexner on the record.
[24:37]That's the most important part right now is we have questions
[24:39]that are going to continue throughout the afternoon and get them on the record.
[24:42]Time for a couple more questions we've got to wrap up.
[24:43]If you feel you're not getting the answers today, what's next?
[24:47]I think what's next is we may have additional questions.
[24:54]We have more people to speak to folks that are involved with Mr. Wexner
[24:58]and that have done business with them, including the doctor that we just discussed
[25:03]earlier that got transferred a significant amount of money.
[25:05]They can expect questions from us. Absolutely. We're asking for those.
[25:10]Jasmine, do you want to ask the other part of the question?
[25:12]All right. Let me let Jasmine go ahead.
[25:17]When you said there are no Republicans here, you didn't just mean at this press conference.
[25:20]There are no Republican members of Congress at this deposition.
[25:24]Right. There are Republican staff members.
[25:27]No Republican members of Congress chose to come.
[25:29]We'll take one final question.
[25:30]Mr. Wexner was named as a possible witness here and a lot of the documents,
[25:34]anything you've seen today makes you think he might not be or could be?
[25:39]There's nothing I've heard that. No, I think that is a very open question
[25:43]and I think that's part of the investigation that's going to continue.
[25:48]Thanks, everybody.