WASHINGTON — Former Victoria’s Secret proprietor Les Wexner testified Wednesday earlier than a Home panel that he was supremely “conned” by the now-deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein, who managed the billionaire’s fortune for many years, however didn’t “witness, condone or allow” any of his intercourse crimes.
The 88-year-old LBrands CEO sat for a deposition with the Home Oversight Committee in Ohio, the place he recalled how the “world Olympic con artist” had “stolen huge sums” from his retail fortune simply earlier than pleading responsible to soliciting a minor for prostitution in 2008, in keeping with a supply accustomed to the testimony and a written assertion.
“I fully and irrevocably minimize ties with Epstein practically 20 years in the past after I discovered that he was an abuser, a criminal and a liar,” Wexner stated his ready remarks. “I used to be by no means a participant nor co-conspirator in any of Epstein’s unlawful actions.”
Whereas in talks with feds in 2007 and 2008 earlier than his responsible plea, Epstein quietly paid again $100 million for the purported theft of a whole bunch of thousands and thousands of {dollars} from the Wexner household after having as their “cash supervisor.”
A failed Wall Road dealer, Epstein had purchased actual property properties for the Wexners that he later bought himself at diminished worth, in keeping with a federal prosecution memo, compiled from conferences with the businessman’s legal professionals, in 2019.
Wexner additionally revealed that he had met Donald Trump properly earlier than his profitable run for the US presidency at Victoria’s Secret trend exhibits, however by no means noticed the true property mogul with Epstein — both in public or on the financier’s Palm Seashore house — and didn’t view them as “mates,” the supply famous.
He said that he was by no means conscious of Trump having intercourse with a person that both Epstein or his convicted confederate Ghislaine Maxwell launched to the longer term president.
The testimony immediately rebuked accusations from two Home lawmakers who claimed Wexner was one in every of six males “possible incriminated” by his Epstein ties, citing the retail maven’s look in thousands and thousands of investigative supplies launched by the Division of Justice in late January.
Although referenced practically 200 occasions within the recordsdata per the DoJ, Wexner has famous that his legal professionals instructed him in 2019 that he was considered as a supply of knowledge for the federal investigation and never a goal.
The lawmakers — Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) — cited 5 others doubtlessly implicated by their associations with Epstein, however 4 have since been revealed as random members of an FBI line-up that had no connection to the late pedophile.
The fifth, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem resigned as CEO of logistics large DP World it was revealed within the DOJ’s doc dump that Epstein wrote to the Emirati billionaire he “cherished the torture video” in a 2009 electronic mail.
Federal prosecutors initially listed Wexner as a possible co-conspirator following Epstein’s arrest in July 2019, however the FBI discovered “restricted proof relating to his involvement,” in keeping with an electronic mail from an New York Area Workplace agent included within the DOJ’s Epstein recordsdata.
Different emails and paperwork within the Epstein recordsdata present that Wexner remained on the ex-financial advisor’s thoughts just some years earlier than his arrest on federal intercourse trafficking costs.
“You and I had ‘gang stuff’ for over 15 years. An excessive amount of it, that she was unaware of. I had no intention of divulging any confidence of ours, it doesn’t matter what accusations she made. And she or he made fairly a couple of,” Epstein wrote in an undated draft letter to Wexner.
One other 2015 electronic mail that’s just about incoherent consists of scattered references to “wexner,” “gang stuff,” “ohio” and “34 women.”
Wednesday’s testimony comes after a number of elected officers in Ohio selected to return donations from Wexner — with the billionaire having contributed greater than $200,000 to state campaigns since 2020, The Columbus Dispatch reported.
In his deposition, Wexner recounted how the insurance coverage government Robert Meister first launched him to Epstein throughout a go to to Florida within the Nineteen Eighties, however their relationship remained strictly skilled within the coming years.
The businessman stated Epstein by no means introduced him with a lady for “sexual leisure,” nor did Maxwell — who’s at the moment serving a 20-year jail sentence for conspiring with the financier to use and sexually abuse minors — ever introduce him to anybody or change into concerned with him professionally.
Wexner additionally denied that Epstein, who dedicated suicide in a federal jail in August 2019 after being charged with intercourse trafficking, had ties to intelligence companies or linked rich and influential folks with ladies or women for intercourse.
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), the highest Democrat on the Oversight panel, pressed the retail mogul whether or not Epstein himself had sought a sexual relationship with Wexner, which he additionally stated he didn’t.
“The opposite life he led, that we now know was filled with unthinkable crimes, he most fastidiously and totally hid from me. He knew that I by no means would have tolerated his horrible habits. Not any of it,” the businessman added in his ready remarks.
“At no time did I ever witness the aspect of Epstein’s life for which he’s now notorious.”
An legal professional for Wexner didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
