Latest / The Epstein Chronicles / Lesley Groff And The Transcript From Her Epstein Related Trip to Congress (Part 20) (7/15/26)

Transcript

Lesley Groff And The Transcript From Her Epstein Related Trip to Congress (Part 20) (7/15/26) · The Epstein Chronicles

• 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 we left off with Leslie Groff and her interview
• 0:09
  with Congress Ms Tolan. Asking the questions question and then
• 0:15
  just a few general questions about your compensation and benefits.
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  I think you mentioned in a previous hour that you
• 0:20
  said in your opening statement that your starting salary was
• 0:24
  fifty thousand. Is that correct? Answer? Yes? Question what did
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  it increase to or what was the maxi amount that
• 0:31
  you received? Answer? The maximount I believe was one hundred
• 0:35
  and fifty thousand, and that was only for one year
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  and it went down. Question why did it go down? Answer? Well,
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  it went down when he went to jail. Question and
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  how were payments made to you? Were they direct from
• 0:47
  Epstein or through an Epstein own entity? Answer? I know
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  was direct deposit into my account. Question do you know
• 0:54
  if that was coming straight from mister Epstein or were
• 0:57
  you employed by an entity? Answer? I don't recall. I
• 1:00
  think it was an entity, but I was always considered,
• 1:05
  you know, from mister Epstein. Question did jew your family
• 1:08
  ever receive financial assistance with any of the following things
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  as part of your compensation for your role. Any help
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  with housing answer no question. Any payments for medical appointments
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  answer there may have been some medical and dermatology appointments. Yeah.
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  Question Any cosmetic surgeries answer cosmetic surgeries answer yes. Like
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  did mister Epstein ever answer like botox? Question anything like that?
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  Yes answer yes. Questioned and he paid for it? Answer
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  yes he did? Question on multiple occasions? Answer I did
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  that and acutane actually so accutane was definitely for a while. Yes.
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  Question And did he pay for one of you or
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  your family member's education? Answer my son's preschool. Question for
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  how many years did that continue? Answer it was three years?
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  Question and then it stopped? Answer correct. Question Any other
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  personal expenses that mister Epstein paid for you or your family?
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  Answer he paid one time for me to go to
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  Miami with a girlfriend of mine. Question Were you ever
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  listed as a beneficiary of any trust owned by Jeffrey Epstein?
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  Answer a beneficiary question yes, answer was that the Butterfly trust?
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  Question just if you remember ever being listed? Answer no.
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  No question. Did you ever receive a payout from any
• 2:29
  trust owned by Jeffrey Epstein? Answer no. Question did you
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  ever receive gifts? From mister Epstein. Answer, I received haircuts.
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  I think I received I got to go get makeup
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  done one time, hair and makeup done, you know that
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  sort of thing. Question did he ever pay for any
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  cards for you? Answer? Oh, yes, he did pay for
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  a car that I was able to use. Yes. Question
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  were you only able to use it in your capacity
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  as secretary forum? Answer? Well, I could drive it wherever
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  I wanted at home. Once he went to jail, had
• 3:00
  to give the car back. Question did mister Epstein also
• 3:03
  pay for gifts for other assistants? Answer? I think that
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  other assistance had some nice things. Had a gym membership
• 3:11
  with the Equinox, and I think that was pretty everybody
• 3:14
  wanted to go to that gym, and he paid for Equinox.
• 3:17
  Question did you ever receive any personal loans from mister Epstein? Answer?
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  The only loans were the loans that we discussed for
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  salary compensation. That was it. Question did mister Epstein ever
• 3:29
  provide you or help you acquire real estate? Answer no question.
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  Did mister Epstein ever set up a business or LLC
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  in your name? Answer? No question for you. Did you
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  ever ask mister Epstein for any personal favors? Answer no question.
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  Is there any other situation that we have not covered
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  that you received from mister Epstein? Answer? I don't think so.
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  Question any bonuses anything like that? Answer, Oh, I probably
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  got bonuses five thousand here and there, and then maybe
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  a year or two I didn't get in, but yeah,
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  they were part of the compensation package, I guess. Question
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  and what was the reason for those bonuses if they came?
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  Answer it was a Christmas gift or a Christmas bonus.
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  Question And in your opinion, would mister Epstein's generosity towards
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  you or other assistants later become transactional? Did he expect
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  things in return? Answer? Oh, no, question even loyalty? Was
• 4:24
  that part of the way he kept people loyal to him?
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  Do you feel that way? Answer? I don't think that
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  he was. I thought he was a generous person. Backner
• 4:33
  she's asking about now Groff? Oh, no, I'm sorry, stepping back.
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  I can see that would could be the case that
• 4:39
  he was doing that to control people, Miss Tolan. But
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  at the time did you feel like that, Miss Groff?
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  At the time, No, I thought he was just a
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  generous person and didn't have a family to dote on.
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  And I think that he like giving people gifts, Miss Brignac,
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  mis Groff, this is a vast amount and number of
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  gifts that we've seen contributed towards you and other assistance,
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  to includ major cosmetic surgeries and the Mercedes Benz. Did you,
• 5:05
  in fact, whether you understood it to be intended to
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  extract loyalty or not, did you in fact feel more
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  loyal to him at the time because of these gifts, Groff,
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  I thought they were very nice. I don't know that
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  it made me feel more loyal. I just thought that
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  it was very generous and a nice thing to do,
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  Miss Toland. And then just a few general questions were
• 5:26
  almost to the end of the hour. I know you
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  said these in your statement in your opening statement, and
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  cover them a little bit, But just again, which Epstein
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  residence is did you visit during your time as his secretary? Answer?
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  His island three times, his Paris guest apartment once, and
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  his mansion on seventy first Street after twenty eleven? Question,
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  and when you visited the island, Mister Epstein was not
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  present for any of those visits? Is that correct? Answer?
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  He was not present. I did not see him when
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  I was on the island. Question and was he present
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  when you visited his residence in Paris? Answer no question.
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  Did you keep keys or did you have security access
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  to any residences? Answer no question. Did you ever see
• 6:10
  any unusual artwork or photographs inside any of mister Epstein's homes?
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  Answer in seventy first Street, he had what we all
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  know is the painting of President Clinton in the Blue dress.
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  Question do you know anything about that painting? Answer like
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  where it came from? No, I don't question, yes, where
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  it came from? Why he had it? Answer I do not.
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  Question do you know if President Clinton had any involvement
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  in that painting? Did you ever see any nude paintings
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  or photographs of young women in the house? Answer no question.
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  And I think you mentioned this already. But did you
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  ever travel on any of mister Epstein's private airplanes? Answer?
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  Not on his airplanes. I took the one helicopter ride.
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  That was it? Question? And one was that? Answer? That
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  was when I would go for a visit construction his
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  construction project the one time and numerous victims have alleged
• 7:01
  that young victims were forced to carry out sex acts,
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  and mister Epstein and his guest conducted group sex with
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  girls on mister Epstein's private aircraft. It's even nicknamed the
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  Lolita Express. Are you familiar with any of these allegations?
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  Answer only after twenty nineteen, mister Tolan. Okay, we'll end
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  our hour right here. We'll go off the record. Question.
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  We'll go back on the record. Now. Groff is being
• 7:30
  questioned by redacted. Question. Miss Groff, I'd like to ask
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  you a few more questions about the offices that you
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  worked in. I know we talked about this earlier, but
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  I would like to clarify some things. So, for the
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  office on four fifty seven Madison Avenue, you worked there
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  from two thousand and one to two thousand and nine.
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  Correct answer, yes, question, And your office was next to
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  mister Epstein's, but you wouldn't necessarily see people come in
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  and out because the door your office door was sometimes closed.
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  Correct answer. That is correct, as well as there was
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  a door prior to getting to my office that would
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  go to his office. Question. Got it? Starting in two
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  thousand and nine, you worked out of an apartment at
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  three oh one E sixty sixth Street. Is that correct? Answer? Yes, question,
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  and you were there from two thousand and nine, you
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  think twenty eleven or twenty eleven. Answer that sounds right. Yes.
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  Question did mister Epstein ever work out of three oh
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  one East sixty sixth Street Answer no, question. And then
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  in twenty twelve you went to a building on Lexington
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  Is that correct? Answer? Yes? Question do you know the
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  address of that building? Answer? I think it was five
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  seventy five Lexington. Question and you were there until twenty
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  thirteen when you started working out of his home at
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  nine e seventy first Street correct answer, yes, I believe
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  those are around the proper dates twenty thirteen, twenty fourteen. Question,
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  And mister Epstein worked at the Lexington office is that right? Answer? No?
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  Never question? So who was at the Lexington office? Answer? Sure,
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  so the accountant Rich, the attorney, Darren Endyke, It was
• 9:03
  Harry Beller, the trader redacted, the assistant to the accountant,
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  and that was who was there at first, and then
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  Henry Harry Beller left and we had an assistant to
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  mister Endyke. Question, so the only two properties that you
• 9:16
  worked at that mister Epstein also worked at were the
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  first one, four fifty seven Madison Avenue and then the
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  last one, nine East seventy first Street, correct answer correct yes. Question.
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  I'd like to ask you a few questions about Leon Black.
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  Were you ever aware of mister Epstein paying women who
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  had been in relationships with mister Black? Answer no question.
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  Were you aware of mister Epstein being involved in negotiation
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  of non disclosure agreements with women who had been in
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  relationships with mister Black? Answer no question. To your knowledge,
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  how many times did mister Black visit mister Epstein's island?
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  Answer island. I didn't know he did visit mister Epstein's island.
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  Question okay, I'd like to ask you some questions about
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  just day. To your knowledge, how many times did mister
• 10:02
  Staley visit mister Epstein's island? Answer I do not know.
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  Question are you aware of mister Staley ever visiting Zoro Ranch? Answer?
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  I am not question. Were you ever aware of mister
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  Staley having sex with a member of mister Epstein's staff?
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  Answer no question. Ms Groff, we have asked you a
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  lot of questions today about specific people. Is there anyone
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  that we have not asked about that you have knowledge
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  of being involved in any of mister Epstein's crimes? Answer
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  no question. Is there anyone that you think the Committee
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  should talk to for its investigation to get a better
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  sense of mister Epstein's crimes and is sex trafficking? Answer?
• 10:41
  Uh huh, I don't think so. I mean maybe Alan Dershowitz.
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  I don't know if you can though, because he is
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  an attorney. I don't know. Question. Why do you say
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  Dershowitz answer because he was his attorney? Question anyone else? Answer?
• 10:54
  No question. I'd like to ask you some questions about
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  the investigation into mister Epstein that started in two thousand
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  and five. You talked about this earlier, and you said
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  you spoke to law enforcement in the fall of two
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  thousand and seven. Is that correct? Answer? I think it
• 11:08
  was August of two thousand and seven, Is that right? Yes? Question?
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  And you said when the FBI agents came to your home,
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  you went upstairs and then you contacted Darren Endyck. Correct answer, yes, Groff.
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  Minority Exhibit H has been introduced. I would like to
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  introduce as minority Exhibit H, this plea proffer from the
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  United States versus Jeffrey Epstein, which was released by the
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  Department of Justice in January of this year. The Bates
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  number is EFTA zero zero two one three three sixty nine.
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  It's an excerpt of a larger document. So the relevant
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  pages state that you said on August twenty first, two
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  thousand and seven, FBI agents went to your home to
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  speak with you about mister Epstein. The document says that
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  after the FBI agents arrived, you excused yourself to go
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  upstairs and then called mister Epstein. The document says that
• 12:02
  mister Epstein quote instructed Miss Groff not to speak with
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  the agents. Is the plea proffer correct answer? I believe
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  it is. I don't know how they would know that.
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  I really believe that I called mister Endyke. I wouldn't
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  call mister Epstein question. The document then says that mister
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  Epstein quote applied pressure to keep Miss Groff from complying
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  with the Grand Jerry subpoena that the agents had served
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  on her, and that mister Epstein quote warned Miss Groff
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  against turning over documents and electronic evidence were responsive of
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  the subpoena, and pressured her to delay her appearance before
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  the federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida.
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  Do you have any memory of mister Epstein applying pressure
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  to keep you from complying with the subpoena or warning
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  you against turning over documents and evidence. Answer none, No,
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  All right, folks, we're gonna wrap up right here, and
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  in the next episode dealing with the topic, we're gonna
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  pick up where we left off all the information that
• 12:59
  goes but if this episode can be found in the
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  description box.