Latest / The Epstein Chronicles / Lesley Groff And The Transcript From Her Epstein Related Trip to Congress (Part 1) (7/2/26)

Transcript

Lesley Groff And The Transcript From Her Epstein Related Trip to Congress (Part 1) (7/2/26) · The Epstein Chronicles

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Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
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Epstein Chronicles. In this episode, we're going to begin taking
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a look at Leslie Groff and the transcript from her
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appearance in front of Congress, and we're going to skip
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all the swearing in and talking about you know the
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rules of engagement, if you will, we all know those now,
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So we're going to start with Leslie Groff and our
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opening statement. Ms. Groff. Okay, good morning, Chairman, ranking member,
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and members of the Committee. My name is Leslie Groff.
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I have no experience in public speaking. I've never testified
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in court. I am introverted and shy, and this is
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petrifying to me. So I apologize to you if my
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responses are awkward. Still I'm here. I look forward to
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providing information to this committee voluntarily, just as I did
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in twenty twenty one when I spoke voluntarily with prosecutors
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in New York. I want to help you in any
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way that I can. I hope that it'll prevent this
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evil conduct from ever occurring again. I believe that my
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testimony will dispel the false notions that, because of my
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employment with Epstein, I must have knowingly enabled or conspired
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with them to commit these evil acts. Nothing could be
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further from the truth. Since mister Epstein's arrest in twenty nineteen,
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I struggle with sleep. I can't eat. Many of my
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friends and acquaintances have shunned me. For the last seven years,
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my now twenty one year old son's life has been
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in turmoil, and I've been the target of harassment and
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death threats. I've chosen to speak with you all to
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tell the truth as I know it. My recollection of
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many things is generally poor, since they occurred as far
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back as twenty five years ago. I'll try my very best,
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and I thank you for your patience. I want to
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say without any doubt that I have come to believe
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the man who employed me from February of two thousand
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and one through July of twenty nineteen was a monster.
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For eighteen years, I worked for Jackyl, but was never
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permitted to see the true mister Hyde. Mister Epstein was,
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in hindsight, a master manipulator and deceiver who separated his
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legitimate life from his secret life as an abuser, and
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made sure that as his secretary, those two worlds did
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not collide. I had every reason not excuse me had
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every reason not to tell me about his crimes. He
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had no leverage on me. I was not like Sarah Kellen,
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whose testimony just broke my heart. Sexually abused by Epstein.
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I didn't need the job. Our family was financially secure.
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Most importantly, I would have never sat silent if I
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knew of his crimes. Mister Epstein used me and intentionally
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kept me on the outside of his perverted life. He
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did not know me when I was hired. It was
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nonsensical for him to confide in me a total stranger,
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or allow me to learn that he was abusing women.
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Now let me tell you a little bit about myself.
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I was born in Dallas and raised in a Protestant
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home in Plano. I graduated from the University of Texas
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at Dallas. I moved to Jersey in ninety and married
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my first husband in ninety three. I worked at his
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office supply company. I then worked as a salesperson at Nordstrom's.
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After my divorce, I met my husband Ike. I decided
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I wanted it to be an event planner, so I
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posted my resume on monster dot com. I was contacted
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by a headhunter about a job with the New York Knicks. Unfortunately,
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I missed the interview because of snowstorm in Manhattan That
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same day. The headhunter asked if I was interested in
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working for a wealthy businessman as an administrative assistant to
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keep his very busy life organized. That same day I
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interviewed at the Helmsley Palace with Glenn Maxwell and then
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mister Epstein. They explained to me that i'd be with
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mister Epstein, his executive assistant secretary, organizing his calendar, making appointments,
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and dealing with his endless calls. I could tell this
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was an office environment that looked exciting, challenging, and attractive
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to me. About a week later, I accepted the job
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at a salary fifty thousand. From two thousand and one
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to two thousand and nine, I worked exclusively out of
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Helmsley Palace. When I began working for mister Epstein, I
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was thirty five years old. I was trained by Redacted,
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the woman I was replacing. Redacted explained that I would
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be inundated with calls, scheduling, and coordinating his staff to
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make sure that they've fulfilled his often demanding work requests,
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for example, making sure that he had reading glasses at
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every table at every one of his homes and offices,
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or sourcing very late in the day a dozen chocolate
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croissants made in New York to be delivered the Palm
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Beach by nine the next morning. Miss Maxwell redacted and
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other staff also told me that mister Epstein's day included
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a morning muffin, a private yoga lesson, and a massage
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for me. Many of his routines were luxuries, but everyone
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treated them as normal, and I was expected to arrange
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them as part of my job. I was astonished by
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the truly impressive people in his circle. Past presidents, military leaders,
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former politicians, foreign dignitaries, actors, musicians, scientists, authors, mathematicians, university professors, inventors,
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titans of business, models, fashion designers, and philanthropists. It was
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a world I had no experience with, and I was
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captivated by it. I actually felt lucky to have found
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such an amazing job. I was thrust into the lifestyle
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of the rich and famous. Mister Epstein's directive for a
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massage was just another small part of the elite world
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I was not from, and was a very small part
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of what was demanded from me on a daily basis.
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From day one, mister Epstein and Miss Maxwell established guardrails.
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They made it very clear to me that I was
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a replaceable employee. Maxwell and Epstein told me that I
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was never to associate with their friends or contacts or
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I'd be fired. The people I spoke with in my
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job were their friends and colleagues, not mine. Their business
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was none of my business, and not to forget it.
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If I messed up in an appointment, I could be fired. Frequently,
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mister Epstein yelled at me to the point of tears
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when I made an error with an appointment. He screamed
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that I ruined his day and that the time lost
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could never be replaced. I recalled that weeks after I
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was hired, one of mister Epstein's contacts invited me to
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attend a party with my husband in New York City.
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The next workday, Mister Epstein and Miss Maxwell, who were
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not at the party, somehow found out that I had attended,
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and they torched me. They told me I had crossed
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the line into his social life and I'd be fired instead.
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Mister Epstein put me on probation. He ordered me to
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completely separate myself from his personal world. In hindsight, I
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wish he had fired me. Since that time twenty five
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years ago, I've never socialized with mister Epstein or a
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Miss Maxwell. I've never been on his aeroplane. I've never
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been to one of his parties. I never visited him
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in jail after he was convicted in two thousand and
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eight or after he was arrested in twenty eighteen. I
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never accompanied him to Little Saint James or a Zoro ranch,
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or to his Pon Beach residents. In fact, in my
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eighteen years as his secretary, I've been to Little Saint
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James three times, once with my husband and twice for
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work to view construction projects. These visits were during the
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day and lasted only a couple hours. I stated as
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Paris Guest department once with my husband. Mister Epstein was
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not there. From two thousand and one to two thousand
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and nine, I worked exclusively at Helmsley Palace. When you
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entered the reception area, my office was located in the
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rear of the suite and I could not see who
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entered or exited. Visitors were able to enter and leave
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mister Epstein's office through a separate entrance without seeing them
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without me seeing them. In two thousand and nine, the
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offices moved to sixty sixth Street, then to five seventy
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five Lexington Avenue, and then around twenty thirteen to his
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mansion on seventy first Street. Not once did I see
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or hear anything illegal. Every morning mister Epstein called me
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at nine a m with literally dozens of matters for
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me to complete that day, I had no free time.
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I went from task to task. I had two phones
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on my desk, ringing constantly. Almost daily, I made a
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massage appointment for mister Epstein. He provided me the name
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and telephone number of a massuse and I called her.
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These calls lasted literally a few seconds. Hi, this is
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Leslie calling for mister Epstein. Are you available for a massage?
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At four? Sometimes massuses called the office and asked if
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mister Epstein wanted a massage. On occasion, mister Epstein directed
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me to arrange massages for his guests, both men and women,
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at hotels and spas. To me, a few minutes it
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took to arrange massages for mister Epstein were just part
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of his routine, like going to the gym. For some people.
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From two thousand and one to about twenty thirteen. I
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never stepped foot in the mansion, nor have I ever
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been in the private quarters of his home, including one
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of the massage took place. I've never seen photos of
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nude women there. From in or about two thousand and
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five to two thousand and seven, when I became pregnant
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and gave birth to my son, I was rarely at
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the office. I had a job sharing agreement with her
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dacted who had also just given birth, and I worked
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from home at least two days a week. I only
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came into the office on the rare occasion when mister
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Epstein was there. It's important for the committee to understand that,
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to my knowledge, I never met any of these messuses.
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None of these women or anyone else ever told me
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that they were miners or that they were sexually abused.
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Nothing I heard or saw led me to believe otherwise.
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Even Sarah Kellen, who courageously told this committee about her
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sexual abuse, confirmed that she never told me of her abuse,
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even though we spoke with each other. Finally, I wished
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to address why I did not leave Epstein's employ after
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his arrest in two thousand and eight. My experience in
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that regard was similar to Miss Kellen's than others like Sarah.
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It was not until some time after mister Epstein's conviction
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that I learned the government and mister Epstein's lawyers had
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included me and others in the non prosecution agreement as
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potential co conspirators. I'm not a conspirator, and I never
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would have agreed to that language. Their unilateral decision to
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label me as a potential conspirator remains my scarlet letter.
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After his arrest in two thousand and eight, Epstein lied
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to me and insisted that he had been blackmailed and
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set up. His attorney told me the same thing. He
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angrily said that the allegations against him were fake and
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he had no idea that the women he had contact
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with was a minor. It was a shakedown, he claimed
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for money. In my mind, there was a reason that
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he was treated so leniently by law enforcement for such
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a serious crime. Although I consider resigning, Epstein convinced me
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to remain. He played on my loyal nature. I actually
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believed that he had been set up. I believed that
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he could be kind and generous in caring because the
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way he often treated me and others. I know now
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that this kindness was a facade u and just part
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of his manipulation. I also saw the VIPs continue to
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surround Epstein after his conviction. I know now that everything
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he did was a scheme intended to protect himself members
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of the committee. My heart breaks for these women, I
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believe them. Words cannot express how badly I feel that
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I was employed by mister Epstein during the time he
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abused these women. I will live with that horrible feeling
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for the rest of my life. But what I cannot
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and should not live with are the false innuendoes and
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accusations that I knowingly aided his evil conduct. And that's
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why I'm here today. Thank you. All Right, folks, We're
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going to wrap up right here, and in the next
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episode dealing with the topic, we're gonna pick up where
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we left off. All the information that goes with this
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episode can be found in the description box.