Latest / The Vault: The Epstein Files / Lesley Groff And The Transcript From Her Epstein Related Trip to Congress (Part 7) (7/5/26)

Transcript

Lesley Groff And The Transcript From Her Epstein Related Trip to Congress (Part 7) (7/5/26) · The Vault: The Epstein Files

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
• 0:03
  Epstein Chronicles. In this episode, we're going to pick up
• 0:06
  where he left off with a Leslie Groff interview with Congress.
• 0:12
  Question misredacted. When did you first learn that mister Epstein
• 0:16
  was under investigation by the Palm Beach Police Answer? I
• 0:19
  believe it was in two thousand and seven. Question what
• 0:23
  was your understanding at the time of why he was
• 0:25
  being investigated? Answer? He told me that he was being
• 0:28
  black mailed. Question when did you first learn that he
• 0:31
  had been arrested and charged with solicitation of prostitution? Answer?
• 0:37
  I think sometime around two thousand and seven. Question what
• 0:41
  was your understanding at the time of exactly what he
• 0:44
  was accused of doing of the underlying conduct? Answer? Could
• 0:48
  you say that again? I'm sorry. Question what was your
• 0:51
  understanding at the time of exactly what he was accused
• 0:53
  of doing? Answer? I believed him. I believe that he
• 0:56
  was being black meled and that it was false, and
• 0:59
  that he totally had me believe that he was. It
• 1:02
  was not what they were saying. Question when did you
• 1:05
  first learn that the conduct that issue involved the sexual
• 1:07
  abuse of minor girls, specifically high school students. Answer when
• 1:12
  did I could you say that again? Answer when did
• 1:15
  you first learn that the conduct that issue involved the
• 1:18
  sexual abuse of minor girls, specifically high school students. Mister Backner,
• 1:24
  could you give a time frame as to when you
• 1:26
  want you mean, ever learned redacted? When did she learn that? Yes,
• 1:31
  in relation to him being arrested and charged mister Backner,
• 1:34
  I'm sorry in two thousand and seven. Answer yeah, correct,
• 1:38
  mis Groth in two thousand and seven. I believe he
• 1:42
  told me that he was being charged with solicitation of
• 1:45
  a minor, but that he was being blackmailed. He didn't
• 1:47
  know that this person was a minor, and that was it,
• 1:50
  and I believed him he lied to me. Question did
• 1:54
  learning that the conduct that issue, that what he was
• 1:57
  accused of involved minors? Did that concern you at all?
• 2:00
  Mister Whitcomb. Just objection to the form of the question,
• 2:04
  mister adacted. Counsel, this is a transcribed interview in Congress.
• 2:08
  There are no rules of evidence here, so please let
• 2:10
  counsel ask the question, mister Whitcomb. Okay, I'll take that
• 2:14
  under advisement, sir, mister adacted. Thank you, mister Backner. Just
• 2:18
  for clarity, say minor, not minors, groff I was going
• 2:22
  to say, I didn't even think it was plural. I
• 2:25
  was told it was a minor, so I did not.
• 2:28
  I was not. I was unaware that you're making it plural.
• 2:32
  I was told it was one miner and it was
• 2:34
  a mistake, and that he was being black mailed redacted.
• 2:38
  So it didn't concern you to learn that the conduct
• 2:40
  that issue involved gets cut off by groff Well, then
• 2:44
  gets cut off by redacted under your belief a minor.
• 2:47
  It didn't concern you, miss groff Well. I didn't. I
• 2:50
  didn't like it. But he he was remorseful and said
• 2:53
  he didn't know that it was a mistake and he
• 2:55
  was being black malt and I believed him redacted. Question
• 2:59
  if I can ask, if he's being blackmailed, what's he
• 3:02
  remorseful for? Answer, well, he didn't know that it was
• 3:06
  a miner. Question he didn't know that was a miner.
• 3:09
  Answer the person that was accusing him that was blackmailing them. Question. So,
• 3:13
  I guess, just to back up a little bit, you're
• 3:15
  describing how mister Epstein's being blackmailed. Can you describe I
• 3:18
  guess what the blackmail is that he told you like,
• 3:22
  what's the underlying conduct and how is he being blackmailed?
• 3:25
  Answer right, I believed. I just thought that whoever this
• 3:28
  was must have done it on purpose, and I don't
• 3:31
  know showing him a fake ID, I don't know. We
• 3:33
  didn't get into specifics. He didn't tell me exactly how
• 3:36
  it was happening, but I thought that it seemed like
• 3:38
  something that could be happening to him because he was
• 3:41
  a very wealthy man. Question and then you mentioned it
• 3:44
  was a mistake. That was a mistake. Answer that he
• 3:48
  didn't know that this person was a miner. Question and
• 3:51
  what did he do with this miner that would cause this? Answer? Oh,
• 3:54
  I don't know. Question So he was just interacting with
• 3:57
  a miner, and now the miner is blackmailing them. I
• 4:00
  just want to make sure that I understand what you're
• 4:03
  conveying here. Answer right, Yes, I don't think that he
• 4:06
  knew it was a setup. He believed it was a setup,
• 4:09
  and that's the way he explained it to me. Question
• 4:13
  did learning that he was involved with a miner lead
• 4:15
  you to reevaluate anything that you had seen or heard
• 4:18
  or learned about up until that point as one of
• 4:21
  his employees? Answer? Evaluate question, did you see anything that
• 4:26
  you had been asked to do? Maybe in a different light,
• 4:28
  knowing that mister Epstein had been involved with a miner.
• 4:32
  Answer I had never seen anything improper, and I did
• 4:35
  not think that way. I'm a very positive person. I
• 4:38
  believe the best in people. And no question. And did
• 4:42
  you have any reservations about continuing to work for mister Epstein?
• 4:46
  Answer not at that time. Question in the following years,
• 4:50
  you spend a significant amount of time scheduling young women
• 4:53
  to visit and travel with mister Epstein. Given that he
• 4:56
  had pleaded guilty to conduct involving miners, were you concerned
• 4:59
  that he he was sexually abusing these young women? Answer no,
• 5:03
  I never saw anything. She gets cut off by the
• 5:06
  questioner that didn't cross your mind at any point. Answer,
• 5:12
  I never saw anything improper. Everyone who was around, as said,
• 5:16
  seem very happy. No one ever seemed to be in duress,
• 5:19
  And I did not. Question And what was your interpretation
• 5:22
  of why he pleaded guilty? If he's explaining to you
• 5:25
  that the underlying allegations were false, why did he plead guilty? Groth?
• 5:29
  Why did he plead guilty? Backner? What did he tell
• 5:32
  you if he did would come if you know Groth,
• 5:35
  he just told me that he was being blackmailed, and
• 5:37
  that's it redacted. And I understand that he may have
• 5:41
  told you that. I guess I'm asking for your opinion.
• 5:44
  So at some point he tells you that he's being blackmailed.
• 5:47
  Eventually down the line he pleads guilty to these charges
• 5:50
  which you mentioned that you became aware of. Answer right
• 5:54
  question in your opinion or I guessed in your mind
• 5:57
  at the time. How did you square those two things,
• 6:00
  Miss Groff? I looked around the office and I felt
• 6:02
  people smarter than me were still there, and I stayed there,
• 6:05
  all his contacts and business people. No one left, and
• 6:09
  I kind of looked at that and thought, wow, if
• 6:11
  everybody else is staying, and Darras said, I feel like
• 6:14
  smarter than me. Everybody was under the same impression that
• 6:18
  it was he was being blackmailed and it was all
• 6:20
  a scheme misredacted For the following individuals, were you ever
• 6:25
  aware of mister Epstein or miss Maxwell introducing them to
• 6:29
  any minor girls or young women for the purpose of
• 6:31
  engaging in sexual activity? Kimball Musk answer no question, Martin
• 6:37
  Noak answer no. Richard Branson answer no. David Copperfield answer no,
• 6:43
  David Blaine answer no, Larry Summers answer no. Sultan Achmed
• 6:48
  Bensulium answer no. Frederick Lecai answer no. Pallo Zampoli answer,
• 6:55
  I don't know who that is. Question Steve Peter Mandelsson
• 6:59
  answer no question. Stephen Hanson answer no question. During that
• 7:04
  time that you work for mister Epstein, what was your
• 7:06
  understanding of his relationship with Andrew mount Batton Winsor former
• 7:10
  Prince Andrew Answer ah, sure, I didn't know what the
• 7:13
  relationship was. I know they spoke on the phone and
• 7:16
  visited with each other, but I don't know what their
• 7:18
  relationship truly was. Question is it fair to say they
• 7:22
  were friends? Answer? It's fair to say that question. Were
• 7:26
  you ever aware of mister Epstein or miss Maxwell soliciting
• 7:28
  minor girls or young women to meet mister of Mount
• 7:31
  Baton Windsor Answer no question. And were you ever aware
• 7:35
  of mister mount Batton Windsor engaging in sexual activity with
• 7:38
  any minor girls or young women introduced to him by
• 7:42
  mister Epstein or Miss Maxwell? Answer no question. What was
• 7:45
  your understanding of mister Epstein's relationship with Jean Luke Brunel.
• 7:50
  Answer Jean lu Brunell was an owner of a modeling agency,
• 7:53
  and I believe that mister Epstein was invested in that
• 7:56
  modeling agency with him. Question by mis redacted Were you
• 8:00
  ever aware of mister Brunell engaging in sexual activity with
• 8:03
  minor girls or young women who were introduced to him
• 8:06
  by mister Epstein or miss Maxwell? Answer no question. Were
• 8:11
  you ever aware of mister Epstein engaging in sexual activity
• 8:14
  with minor girls or young women who were introduced to
• 8:17
  him by mister Brunel? Answer no question. Did you arrange
• 8:21
  travel or visas for any minor girls or young women
• 8:25
  working for mister Brunell's modeling agency? Answer not that I'm
• 8:28
  aware of. I did not organize visas. Question did you
• 8:32
  ever arrange housing for any minor girls or young women
• 8:36
  working for mister Brunell's modeling agency? Answer? If I was
• 8:40
  directed to set aside an apartment of mister Epstein's for
• 8:43
  one of mister Brunell's models, It's possible, but I did not.
• 8:46
  It was my job to say who was going to
• 8:48
  stay in an apartment? Question how did you learn about
• 8:52
  mister Epstein's relationship with mister Brunel answer. I think mister
• 8:56
  Brunell came to the office or I connected him on
• 8:58
  the phone. Was he was there before me? He was
• 9:02
  just a friend I started in two thousand and one.
• 9:04
  I think they knew each other before that question? And
• 9:08
  would you qualify mister Epstein's relationship with mister Brunel as
• 9:12
  a friendship mister Groff or ms Groff, I think there
• 9:15
  were friends and business partners redacted. Miss Groff, you said
• 9:20
  a number of times that you met where you never
• 9:22
  met any minor girl who was giving mister Epstein a massage?
• 9:25
  Is that correct? Answer? Correct question? And you said you
• 9:29
  did not know that any of those girls were in
• 9:31
  fact minors. Answer, correct question. I would like to introduce
• 9:35
  it as a minority. Exhibit A a summary of the
• 9:38
  FBI's No Ever fourth twenty twenty interview with the survivor
• 9:42
  of mister Epstein's abuse. The Bates number is EFTA zero
• 9:47
  zero zero nine zero three three nine. We've marked a
• 9:51
  relevant paragraph for you redacted. According to the summary, the
• 9:56
  survivor told the FBI that she first started giving miss
• 10:00
  ster Epstein massages when she was fifteen years old. She
• 10:03
  explained that the massages were pretenses for sexual abuse and
• 10:07
  said that quote, it was pretty obvious Leslie knew what
• 10:10
  was going on. She also said that you knew she
• 10:13
  was a miner because she explicitly told you that she
• 10:15
  was not eighteen years old, and she also told you
• 10:19
  that she needed money for an abortion. So I'll ask
• 10:22
  you again, miss Groff, did you ever book massages for
• 10:25
  mister Epstein by a girl you knew was a miner? Answer?
• 10:29
  No question. So your testimony here today is that the
• 10:33
  survivor told the FBI what they told them was not true. Answer.
• 10:37
  I feel terrible for this survivor. I'm not saying what
• 10:40
  she's thinking. That she told someone, but she did not
• 10:43
  tell me. I think she is mistaken. I know she
• 10:46
  is mistaken. Question. The summary said redacted said to Leslie
• 10:50
  that she couldnot sign a lease because she was not
• 10:52
  eighteen years old. Also, redacted told Leslie that she cannot
• 10:57
  get an apartment because she was not eighteen. She explained
• 11:00
  to the FBI that she had to live in hotels
• 11:02
  as a result, and that you helped her pay for them.
• 11:05
  Your testimony today is that that is not true. Answer.
• 11:09
  My testimony today is to say that that is not true. Question,
• 11:15
  mister adacted, were you ever aware of mister Epstein paying
• 11:18
  for a minor girl or young woman to have an abortion? Ms? Groff,
• 11:22
  no question, Miss Groff, I have a few questions about redacted.
• 11:28
  We're gonna have some members ask some questions. Groff, Okay,
• 11:32
  all right, folks, we're going to wrap up right here,
• 11:34
  and in the next episode, we're gonna pick up where
• 11:36
  we left off. All the information that goes with this
• 11:39
  episode can be found in the description box.