Latest / The Vault: The Epstein Files / Mega Edition: Les Wexner And His Reign At The Top (7/30/26)

Transcript

Mega Edition: Les Wexner And His Reign At The Top (7/30/26) · The Vault: The Epstein Files

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Up, everyone, and welcome back to the Epstein Chronicles. You
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: can't tell the Jeffrey Epstein story without talking about Les Wexner,
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: and the fact that less Wexner has not come under
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: more fire here, especially in his hometown of Columbus, is
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: pretty enlightening and it tells you the story that you
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: need to hear about all of these people who make
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: pretend they care. The reality is, folks, they don't care.
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: And these business leaders, all of these other big shots
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: who run around each and every day professing that they
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: do care about their community, about people that are less
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: fortunate than them. Well, when you talk about that, it's
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: all fine and well, but you have to live up
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: to that talk at some point, don't you. And these
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: people never seem to do that. It's always a song
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: and a dance. And then when something like this is
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: blown up and brought public, it's always a race to
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: see who can distance themselves from people like Wexner or
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: Epstein the fastest. It's never about coming forward and being
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: upfront about what you know or what you might know.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: It's always about avoiding the issue and making sure that
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: the can just gets kicked down the road. Today, we
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: have an article from Columbus Monthly headline what the Jeffrey
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: Epstein scandal means to Columbus and retail magnate Les Wexner.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: This article was published by The Columbus Monthly and the
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: author is Dave Ghos. If you're looking for the quintessential
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: Less Wexner experience, the Jefferson Series might be it. Since
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: twenty fourteen, it's featured renowned architects, best selling authors, Oscar
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: nominated actresses, decorated military leaders, a former UN ambassador, and
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: other prompt figures in media and politics. The lecture series
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: is a passion project for Wexner, who seems to love
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: nothing more then reveling in its heady mix of big ideas,
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: public service, deep thinking, and philanthropy. Now, you would think
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: that people who are going to these events, who are
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: going to be associated with a guy like Les Wexner,
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: would have a few questions about Jeffrey Epstein, But none
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: of these people like to ask these questions, and nobody
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: seems to want to press him, meaning Wexner down in Columbus.
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: On October first, twenty nineteen, the program launched its seventh
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: season with a typically star studded affair Washington, Post columnist
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: CNN host Fared Zakara Zacharia, wexner favorite, making his fourth
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: Jefferson Series appearance, moderated a panel discuss discussion on China
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: with two former US Secretaries of State, Colin Powell and
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: Madeline Albright. Wexner often offers introductory remarks for these lectures,
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: and this one was no different. The eighty two year
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: old el Brand's founder refused to let the explosive Jeffrey
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: Epstein scandal, a controversy unlike any other Wexner has faced,
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: keep them from public appearance at one of his favorite
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: Central Ohio events. And the crazy part is, even though
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: he wouldn't let himself be taken out of these events,
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: you would think that the media would be a little
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: bit more proactive. Here a guy like far Red Zachariah Zacharia,
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: How are you pronounce the guy's name, mister CNN himself?
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: No questions about Epstein, no grilling, none of that nonsense.
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: When your whole ass network sat there for what six
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: years talking about this one sexually assaulted that one, that
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: one's sexually assaulted this one. Oh, we have it on
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: anonymous sources. Meanwhile, you have people willing to put their
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: names to the allegations they're making against Wexner, against Jeffrey
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: Epstein and a clown like mister Fred. Zachariah can't be
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: bothered to have a big report on that though, right,
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: But he'll go to this dinner with this boy, Les Wexner.
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: Standing before the sold out crowd of nearly nine hundred
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: at the McCoy Center for the Arts, Wexner thanked everyone
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: for supporting the series and introduced the speakers. After he
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: returned to his seat, Zachariah acknowledged Wexner and his wife, Abigail.
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: I first want to thank Les Wexner and everybody involved
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: in putting this together, he said. As many of you know,
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: this whole idea and the civic engagement has been the
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: brainchild of less An Abigail, and I think it's just
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: so important to have successful people in America give back
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: to the community in this way. The crowd responded with
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: hearty applause. Now flip the script and think about how
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: this guy talks on TV, How him, his network and
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: all these other networks talk on TV. Meanwhile, they got
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: people like Cuomo working for him. They got people like
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: Les Wexner running around with their other star of the show.
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: So the hypocrisy, they lay it on thick right. They
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: want to walk the They want you to walk the
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: walk while they just talk the talk. A guy like
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: Les Wexner, he should be absolutely exposed for his ties
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: to Epstein. Nobody asked him about what Virginia had to
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: say here. Nobody's asking him about what happened down in
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: New Aubany with Maria. The warm reaction revealed a lot
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: about Columbus and its relationship with its most powerful citizen.
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: Amid one of the darkest years of Wexner's public life,
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: His hometown hasn't turned on him after decades of good works,
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: philanthropy and civic leadership. Even assorted saga of lies, extravagance,
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: sexual assault, and impunity hasn't broken the cocoon of goodwill
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: that surrounds him. But the saga is not done, and
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: it says a lot about the business leaders and the
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: leadership in general down in Columbus and Ohio as a whole.
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: You've had multiple people come out and speak out against
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: the Wexners at this point. You also had the Ohio
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: State wrestlers who came out and were very, very upset
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: about how the Wexner's names are all over these buildings,
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: considering what went on on this campus with doctor Richard Strauss.
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: So the fact that the Wexners have their names in
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: prominent places all over the campus, all over these buildings,
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: and all over Columbus is really just not a good look.
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: This is the Columbus version of Les Wexner, the inspirational
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: builder of one of the city's most important corporations, The
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: self made billionaire who gives hundreds of millions of dollars
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: away to improve his hometown. The unselfish civic statesman who's
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: a role model to other leaders. The visionary who built
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: his own suburban shangri la in the rural flatlands of
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: Ease Columbus. Are you all getting sick yet? I'm choking
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: back the vomit as I read through this. Now, this
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: is the Epstein Scandal version of Wexner. The careless rich
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: guy who gave complete control of his fortune to a
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: money manager with a sketchy history. The benefactor's who gave
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: an undeserving protege status and power. The blinkered mentor who
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: described his now disgraced pal in a two thousand and
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: three vanity fair article as very smart, a most loyal friend,
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: and someone with excellent judgment and unusually high standards. That's
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: what Les Wexner said about Jeffrey Epstein. You would think
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: that some of these reporters, some of these people who
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: are putting him up on a pedestal, carrying his palaquin around,
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: you would think that have some of these questions, right, like,
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: what are you doing? Bro? What were you and Epstein
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: up to? Why'd you give him all that money? Why'd
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: you guys hang out so often? And what's the deal
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: with the accusations by Virginia? Just even in a basic form,
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: and none of that ever happens. The whitewash just continues
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: in Columbus. It's hard to reconcile these two conflicting portraits.
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: How can the same man be so savvy and so naive,
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: so brilliant and so blind. How could Wexner, who's avoided
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: scandal all his life and is married to a tireless
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: advocate for children and abused women, associate himself with someone
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: who turned out to be such a questionable character, someone
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: who was arrested in early July twenty nineteen on sex
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: trafficking charges. Well, that's easy. Honestly. That's because all of
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: these people, like Wexner, they wrap themselves in charitable givings
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: so that it's armor for them when something like this
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: is exposed later on down the road. I'm convinced of
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: that at this point, because if these were actually just
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: good people who wanted to help, they'd be helping. But
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: know they have their favorite charities. This, that the other thing,
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: And when all is said and done, all of the
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: charitable work in the world does not forgive or excuse
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: your behavior. But what they'll do is they'll have all
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: of this charitable work so when the time does come,
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: they can refer to that and use that as almost
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: to get out of jail free card. Oh, my client
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: couldn't be involved in this. His wife works with children.
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: As if we've never seen that before. That's called the beard,
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: my friends, that's called a front. Columbus has been forced
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: to grapple with these questions since then, when Wexner emerged
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: as a central figure in the saga of Epstein, who
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: hanged himself allegedly in a New York City jail cell
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: while facing charges he abused dozens of underage girls, some
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: as young as fourteen. The topic has dominated conversations, filled
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: social media feeds, and spawned wild speculation. It's been an
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: oh my god moment. There's no doubt that this whole
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: sordid affair has been one of the most eye opening
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: events if you're paying attention anyway, that we've seen unfold
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: in quite some time. And the cast of characters that
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: litters the playing field here is pretty disturbing, and you
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: would think that there would be more made of it,
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: but it seems like a lot of people have motivation
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: to make sure that this story is never really told
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: in the truly robust manner it needs to be told.
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: They've done everything in their power to make sure that
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: that doesn't happen. As the Epstein scandal blotted out the
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: sun during the summer, Columbus leaders were disturbed. The concern
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: was that we didn't want to be a concern, says
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: Lisa Cortis, the CEO of United Way of Central Ohio.
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: He's revered and the hero to Columbus, so we are
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: sad that he has to go through this and sad
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: for his family. I think that's what I heard the most.
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  Speaker 1: He's so important to our history and our future. We
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: just don't want it to impact our city. So really,
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: that's what it comes down to. This shows you, in
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: a microcosm, how the larger federal officials and federal government
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: elected officials feel about Jeffrey Epstein. Oh, all of these
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: people involved, they're so important to this, that or the
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: other thing. We don't want it to impact them or us,
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: so we'll just whitewash their involvement. Indeed, a big public
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: reckoning is unlikely. Columbus Monthly contacted more than two dozen
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: local leaders in politics, business, the nonprofit set, the profit sector,
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: and the civic realm, and almost all declined to talk
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: about Wexner on the record or didn't respond to messages.
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: Wexner also declined to be interviewed for this story, and
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: those who did talk were almost uniformly supportive of Wexner.
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: So it shows you we have a lot of work
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: to do, folks. You know, the battle is still a
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: long way from being over, or I should say the war.
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: We've won some battles here, right, won a few battles.
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: Maxwell's in jail, Jean lu Brunel not breathing in anymore.
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: Jeffrey Epstein while he's gone, So a few battles have
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: been won, but the war is most certainly being waged still.
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: And when you have business leaders in a place like
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: Columbus who know what Epstein was and know the connections
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: he have, has to less Wexner and they still don't care.
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: You have to go a long way down the city's
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: power structure to find someone willing to criticize Wexner's connections
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: to Epstein on the record. Columbus as a whole is
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: not okay with this, says Liliana Rivera Bayman, an underdog
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: candidate for Columbus City Council whose status as a sexual
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: assault survivor inspired her, in part to speak out. She
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: is concerned that the most powerful person in the city
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: was associated with the sexual predator, wants to know more
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: about their financial and personal relationship, and wants to hold
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: Wexner accountable if wrongdoing is discovered. Mostly, she wants to
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: have a loud public conversation. So her name is Liliana
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: Riviera Bayman, b Ai m An. So let's hope that
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: missus Lilliano Rivera Bayman wins this city council position. And
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: if you're down in Columbus, you're in Ohio. You should
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: definitely give her a look, if only for this part
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: of her platform, right holding people accountable. That's a pretty
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: big deal considering nothing else gets done in DC. Maybe,
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: just maybe we'll get a crusader someday who decides to
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: show up and tell all of these people who are
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: involved here that the party's over and we don't care
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: where the evidence leads, you know, the whole no one's
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: too big for the law nonsense we hear every day. Well,
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: it rings hollow, doesn't it. To be sure, she's not
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: Wexner's only public critic, there are plenty of dark takes
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: on Wexner, especially outside of Columbus and in the cynical,
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: conspiracy fueled world of social media. Oh yeah, the conspiracy
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: fueled world of social media. Guess what, bro When you
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: have a hole like we have down in Columbus and
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: nobody's willing to step up and chigaya check your boy,
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: Les Wexner, what do you think is going to happen?
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: A guy that that was this intimately involved with Ebstein,
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: had all of his finances wrapped up with Epstein and
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: being incredibly accused by one of the survivors, and for
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: him not even to be pulled in and talked to
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: under oath. I think that's more of a conspiracy than
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: any of the conspiracy theories that these people talk about.
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: But the Columbus establishment is a different story. For instance,
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: all of Rivera Bahman's incumbent opponents, council members Elizabeth Brown,
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: Emmanuel Remy Shla Favor, and Rob Dorens, declined to comment
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: for this article. I think they are afraid of bringing
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: it up. Rivera Baman says, So you have all of
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: these elected officials, city officials who are supposed to be,
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: you know, protecting the city, safeguarding it, but they're too
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: scared to even speak out against a bitch ass punk
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: like Les Wexner. Y'all got to do better down there
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: in Ohio, obviously. Meanwhile, Wexner's backers praise him for his
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: integrity and accept his explanations that he knew nothing about
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: Epstein's sex crimes, that he's embarrassed and to shame by
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: his association with the disgraced financier, that he regrets ever
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: having crossed his path. What about the fact that he's
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: being incredibly accused by Virginia. Why do people leave that out? Oh,
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: that's right, because it doesn't fit their narrative. Right, be
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: very careful of people who leave shit out because it
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: doesn't fit the narrative they're trying to spin. Here's an idea.
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: Give people all of the information and let them make
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: their own decision. Let them come to their own conclusions.
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: Nobody out there needs to be dog walked. His early
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: trust in Epstein might baffle some of these supporters, but
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: they sympathize with his plight. They say he's an optimist,
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: trusting by nature, and that he can make him an
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: easy mark for a master swindler like Epstein. Wexner deserves
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: our support, they say, not our scorn. Wow, imagine I
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: got news for you. Anyone who's pitching you that line
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: is in the bag, probably for Wexner, and secure in
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: a bag from him. Because I don't know how you
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: could look at what Virginia has to say here and
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: say she was telling the truth about Maxwell but not
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: telling the truth about Wexner. How could that make sense?
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: How does that make sense? Well, I'll tell you it doesn't.
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: So you can't pick and choose what you believe here. Right,
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: It's either you believe what these survivors are saying, or
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: you don't. And for me, the proof has been in
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: the pudding. The evidence has certainly directed us to a
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: place where what they have told us and what they
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: have said has not only rang true, but has been true.
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: So why in the world would it be a lie
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: all of a sudden because less Wexner's involved. Less Wexner
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: is so well respected, says Kurt Steiner, the veteran political
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: cooperative and former Ohio State Senior President of Communications. Something
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: like this will raise eyebrows, but it's not going to
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: change the level of respect people have for him. Les
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: Wexner is going to be given the benefit of the doubt. Well,
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: he might be given the benefit of the doubt by
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: other scumbags and other people who were not brave enough
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: to stand up to him because they're scared of their
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: political future being destroyed or whatever. But for the rest
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: of us, we don't feel like that at all, and
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: we don't feel like he should be given the benefit
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: of the doubt. In fact, he's been given the benefit
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: of the doubt for all of these years. Now it's
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: time for him to come in and answer under oath
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: some questions. Is that too difficult, Is that too big
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: of an ask? I thought nobody was above the law.
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: Isn't that what I hear every day on TV? Every
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: time I have the unfortunate experience of flipping through one
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: of those news channels. Nobody's above the law. Meanwhile, all
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: these scumbags seem to be above the law. Those of
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: us who knew him best know of his unwavering ethics,
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: his moral compass, his unselfish commitment to Columbus, says Alex Fisher,
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: the CEO of Columbus Partnership, the city's most powerful civic organization,
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: which is chaired by Wexner. He's been one of the
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: people in my life who's been the standard of community engagement,
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: and I don't think anything in the summer's events have
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: changed that. So remember this guy's name is Alex Fisher. Okay,
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: the CEO of the Columbus Partnership thinks that Les Wexner
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: is a great guy and everything that we've heard about
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: him is just a lie. Well, mister Fisher, open your
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: fucking eyes, pal. Okay, I don't know how more much
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: more clear I can be than that, right, but open
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: your eyes. You're doing not only your city a disservice here,
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: You're doing the whole nation a disservice. And never mind
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: the women who were abused by Epstein while he was
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: being facilitated and enabled by Wexner. So what are you
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: even talking about here? It's all about the money, isn't it.
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: Let's just be honest. Wexner pumps a bunch of money
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: into your district, into your community. So he's the guy.
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: He's the guy. Well, I'm here to tell you he's
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: not just another scumbag who puts his pants on the
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: same way we do every morning. So he shouldn't be
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: held to some different standard. If you're a dirt bag
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: and you're committing crimes and you're out here associating with Epstein,
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: enabling him and in fact being pointed to as someone
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: taking part, well you, my friend, need to be talked to.
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: A divorce from Wexner is improbable, almost imaginable. How could
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: the city cut ties with someone who is essentially the
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: father of modern Columbus, someone whose last name is plastered
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: on buildings and institutions all over the town, from Cosi
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: to Ohio State Nationwide Children's Hospital. Well that's all part
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: of it. The decoupling has to happen at some point, right,
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: so it doesn't matter. Basically, what you're saying is because
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: of his money and because of his connections. It doesn't
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: matter that this dude has been directly implicated in taking part.
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: If this was just his enabling, just his facilitating, that
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: would be one thing. But we're at a different level here, right.
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: I say it all the time. There's levels to this shit.
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: You have people like Bill Clinton, who enabled him, and
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: then you have people like Les Wexner, who not only enabled,
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: but have been fingered directly as taking part lesson Abigail.
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: Both have earned an extraordinary reservoir of goodwill that is
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: going to outweigh the negative fallout that he's had to
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: endure so far, says Mike Curtin, the former state representative
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: and ex associate publisher of the Columbus Dispatch. And that's
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: because the legacy media won't go hard. They refuse to
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: do it. They refuse to really expose Wexner for what
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: he is. It doesn't matter that all the writings are
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: on the wall, It doesn't matter that person after person
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: has come out and told you all what he is.
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: The legacy media refuses to do what they should do
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: here and absolutely expose this clown. Speaking in early September,
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: Curtin says that he hasn't seen any revelation so far,
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: pointing to Wexner's culpability in Epstein's misdeeds. I believe we've
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: seen the worst of it, Kurtin says. I hope we've
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: seen the worst of it. That's what you really mean,
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: You hope we've seen the worst of it. And mister Curtin,
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: mister Mike Kurtin, do yourself a favor and get educated, pal,
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: because what you know about Jeffrey Epstein, Les Wexter and
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: what they were up to wouldn't even fill a thimble. Okay,
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: So do yourself a favor before you make any other
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: public statements to make yourself look like a fool. Educate yourself. Please.
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: Yet the Epstein saga plays on as of late twenty nineteen.
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: Books are in the works, as is a Netflix docuseries.
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: A movie seems inevitable, and the courts aren't through with Epstein.
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: Despite his death. Federal prosecutors in New York are continuing
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: to investigate, focusing on Epstein's former associates, and several Epstein
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: survivors are suing as a state valued at more than
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: five hundred million dollars. The media continues to focus on Wexner,
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: including a major Washington Post story published in early October
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: of twenty nineteen that tied him and Abigail more directly
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: to a previously alleged nineteen ninety six sexual assault in
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: New Albany, and Wexner could end up a major figure
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: in an Epstein related clash of legal titans that is
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: playing out in both the courts and media, a dispute
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: between famed attorneys David Boyce and Alan Dershowitz. Now, you
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: would think that they'd mention what happened in New Aubany.
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: So since they don't want who I will. That's when
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: Maria was there and was held against her will, as
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: you know, an artist, and couldn't leave the estate. Had
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: to call Abigail Wexner the whole thing, But they leave
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: that out of this. She was held there against her will.
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: And what Maria has to tell you, she said it
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: a million times, and she's also offered receipts and names.
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: But there's been no action. Right, Nobody has stepped up
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: and said, all right, we need a full on investigation here.
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: It's been more of the same. A shrugging of the
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: shoulders and a whitewashing of what went down. All right, folks,
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: that's gonna do it for part one of this story.
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: Coming up next will be part two. If you'd like
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: to contact me, you can do that at Bobby Gapuchi
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: at ProtonMail dot com. That's bo b b Y c
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: apu Cci at ProtonMail dot com. You can also find
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: me on Twitter at Bobby Underscore c ap u Cci.
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: The link that we discussed can be found in the
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: description Welcome back to the Epstein Chronicles. In this episode,
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: we're gonna pick up where we left off in part
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: one talking about Les Wexner, the King of Columbus, Ohio.
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: This article was published by Columbus Monthly and Again the
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: author is Dave Ghosts. Part two. Since Epstein's arrest in
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: early July twenty nineteen, Wexner has been the focus of
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: a media feeding frenzy. No he hasn't come on stop it.
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: A few articles here and there, a media feeding frenzy.
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: You know who's been focused to a media frenzy That
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: has been Prince Andrew and the way that Daily Mahil
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: and The Sun and the rest of those tabloids have
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: pursued him is a lesson for these other publications and
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: how they should go about their business going after people
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: like Les Wexner. The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal,
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: The New York Times, Bloomberg and more of descended on Columbus,
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: with reporters inundated inundating Wexner's friends, former work associates, and
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: acquaintances with phone calls. The attention the most brutal coverage
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: of Wexner's life, made worse by the cultural backlash that
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: was already Roy Victoria's secret l Brand's signature enterprise peaked
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: on July twenty fifth, twenty nineteen, when The Times in
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: The Journal simultaneously published deep dives on Wexner and Epstein.
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: One Wexner friend declined to speak on the record to
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: Columbus Monthly, fearing that public comments might lead to even
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: more calls from reporters. I don't have time for that,
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: the friend says, no, But you have time to hang
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: out with your boy Wexner. Huh, mister, I did some
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: real bad shit with Jeffrey Epstein. You have time for
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: all of that. Though. Thanks to all the reporting, a
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: striking portrait of Epstein has emerged Wexner's man in the shadows,
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: his international moneyman of mystery, as New York Magazine dubbed them.
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: For his only publicly known client, Epstein was more than
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: just a financial advisor. He oversaw the construction of Wexner's
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: three hundred and sixteen foot super yacht Limitless. Does that
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: sound like a guy who was just, you know, swindling
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: his way in or a man who was given the
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: keys to the Ferrari. He joined the board of Wexner's Foundation,
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: the tycoon's charitable arm, replacing Wexner's mother, Bella, who died
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: in two thousand and one. With the help of Wexner,
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: Epstein became a jet setter in his own right. He
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: bought a corporate plane from the Limited even the name
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: El Brands, as well as the seventh floor home in
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: New York, the largest private residence in Manhattan, from Wexner.
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: Epstein even purchased a ten thousand square foot home originally
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: intended for Wexner's friend New Albany County chairman Jack Kesler
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: for three and a half million dollars on the grounds
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: that surround Wexner's own mansion in New Albany, And that
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: was where the stuff happened with Maria? But none of
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: that gets talked about, does it? Legacy media likes to
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: stay away from it. Sure they'll mention it, but what
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: about the follow up reporting? What about the dogged pursuit
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: of the truth Following months of scrutiny, Here's a field
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: guide to what Columbus Monthly and other outlets have learned
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: about Epstein, Wexner and their professional and personal relationship, as
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: well as what questions remain unanswered. The origins. Wexner appears
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: to have met Epstein in the mid nineteen eighties. A
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: source says Robert Meister, a former Aon insurance executive and
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: a friend of Wexner, introduced Wexner to Epstein, who also
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: received endorsements from Bear sterns CEO, Jimmy Kaine and his
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: predecessor Alan A. S. Greenberg. Now we know it was
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: as Greenberg who brought Epstein in. Originally, Epstein was teaching
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: at Dalton and Ace Greenberg was you know, parent, there's
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: kids there or whatever, and was exposed to Epstein. Epstein
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: was brought into his orbit and the rest is history. Right,
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: Epstein Woudham used his charisma and before you knew know it.
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: He was off and running, working for bear Stearns with
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: no Wall Street experience under his sleeve. Mister Epstein represented that,
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: but he had various well known and respected individuals, both
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: as financial clients and in his inner circle. Wexner wrote
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: in an August eighth statement posted on the website of
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: the Wexner Foundation, based on positive reports from several friends
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: and on my initial dealings with them, I believed I
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: could trust them. Yeah right, he had no other clients.
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: You were his only known client forever. So all of
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: a sudden, he has all these clients you can rely
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: on who can build a profile. The fact is you
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: knew what he was, Les Wexner. You're not fooling me.
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: Still plenty of people question Wexner's judgment from the start. Epstein,
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: who owned his own wealth management firm after working as
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: a bear Stearns trader, was a college dropout and a
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: former math teacher at a Manhattan private school with a
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: skimpy resume despite his high profile references. So you need
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: to tell me that a school teacher should be in
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: charge of all the finances of a guy like Les Wexner. Yeah,
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: let me go get my second grade math teacher to
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: take care of my whole portfolio. It's a weird relationship,
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: an anonymous Wall Streeter told New York Magazine in two
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: thousand and two. It's just not normal for someone of
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: such enormous wealth to all of a sudden give his
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: money to some guy most people never even heard of.
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: That's a fact. I've talked to plenty of people on
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: Wall Street, old associates of mine, ex coworkers, and it's
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: all the same story. There's no way that the cover
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: story here tracks with any of them. It would be
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: like walking into like Goldman Sachs and grabbing a junior
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: banker who just you know, came onto the floor and
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: giving him the keys to Apollo Global. Does that make
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: any sense? Of course it doesn't. So what was the
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: motivating factor here that would drive Wexner into doing this?
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: Did Epstein have something on him? Very possible. Calling Bob Moroski,
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: Columbus hasn't heard a lot from Wexner's former top lieutenant
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: of like, but he was a frequent interview during the
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: aftermath of Epstein's arrest. Morosky didn't return columbus monthly calls,
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: but he did speak to the New York Times, The
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: Wall Street Journal and others delivering some of the most
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: biting comments about Epstein and Wexner. I tried to find
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: out how did he get from a high school math
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: teacher to a private investment advisor. The former chief financial
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: officer and vice chairman told The Times there was nothing there.
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: Epstein's connections apparently intrigued Wexner. Moroski said his boss told
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: him that Epstein could introduce him to important people. Moroski
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: spent fifteen years with the Limited before resigning in nineteen
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: eighty seven. Less is an insecure guy with a big ego.
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: He had a lot of money, bud he crave respect,
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: Moroski told The Wall Street Journal. They played off each
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: other's needs. And of course we have to bring up
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: the rumors, the talk that there might have been a
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: bit of a sexual connection between the two. We've heard
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: that from a lot of sources. Now I can't confirm that.
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: I can't deny it either, though. That is the scuttle
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: butt out there. There is talk that that played a
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: part in the way Wexner was with Epstein. Now is
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: that true? I don't know, So I'll leave it up
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: to you to decide what you think. Power of attorney.
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: Many observers have zeroed in on Wexner's decision to grant
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: Epstein power of attorney in nineteen ninety one, allowing him
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: to borrow money, write checks by real estate, and more
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: on his behalf. A power of attorney agreement is common
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: in that context, Wexner wrote in his August Dight statement,
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: pointing out that it gave him more time to focus
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: on his business and philanthropic efforts. Indeed, another wealthy Central
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: Ohio resident agrees, saying such agreements are common for a
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: high net worth individuals with complicated finances who need help
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: managing their assets. I've done that before, the Central Ohio
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: president says, comparing it to a professional athlete who hires
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: a personal manager to allow him to focus on sport. Well,
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: that's all fine, and well if you're actually hiring somebody
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: who you know does this for a living. There was
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: no record of Epstein doing anything like this guy was
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: a jerk off at bear Stearns, a junior banker. If that,
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: and all of a sudden, he's mister hotshot, who should
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: get the keys to the Nasau jet stop it close
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: to home. One of the earliest reports of sexual assault
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: committed by Epstein occurred in nineteen ninety six in his
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: new Albany home, which he sold for eight million dollars
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: in nineteen ninety eight. In a court affter David and
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: an interview with The New York Times, Maria Farmer, an
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: artist who worked for Epstein, says he and his friend
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: Glene Maxwell, the daughter of the late British press baron
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: Robert Maxwell, assaulted her in a bedroom in the home,
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: twisting her nipples to the point of bruising. Fearing she
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: was going to be raped, Farmer fled the room. The
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: Times reported Epstein had invited Farmer to spend the summer
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: in the home while she worked on two large scale
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: paintings commissioned for the movie As Good as It Gets,
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: starring Jack Nicholson. So we've talked about this story, and
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: in fact we've heard it directly from Maria. So I
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: urge you all to listen to what these women are
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: saying directly to you, because they're telling you the story.
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: Farmer told The Washington Post. She Owes Wexner responsible for
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: what happened to me. She pointed to Wexner's close ties
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: to Epstein. As well as the responsibility for a security
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: team to monitor the property located on the grounds of
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: the Wexner estate, about a half mile away from his mansion.
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: Farmer also said Wexner's security officers doesn't say it in
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: the article here, but the guy's name is Randy Bowie,
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: is what Maria said. The man's name was uh security
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: team to monitor the property located on the grounds of
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: the Wexner estate, about a half mile away from the mansion.
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: Farmer also said Wexner's security officers held her against her
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: will for about twelve hours following the assault, until her
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: father arrived from Kentucky to pick her up. A Wexner
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: spokesman told the Post the Wexners were unaware of the
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: alleged attack before the recent news coverage of Miss Farmer.
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: Mister and Miss Wexner had no knowledge of her, never
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: met her, never spoke with her, and never spoke with
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: mister Epstein or anyone else about her. Well, we know
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: that that is not the case. We know that Maria
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: would have to call over to the Wexner's house if
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: she wanted to leave the property, and it's all there
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: for you to hear and download. Maria gave you the
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: whole entire story, and it's very disturbing what she had
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: to say. And if you're a law enforcement official or
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: one of these people living in Columbus, I would think
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: that you'd be a little bit more desirable to find
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: out the truth rather than just to jump in with
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: both feet here and defend somebody like Les Wexner. Like,
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: we see a lot of these people doing Epstein and
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: Victoria's Secret. Then there's Alicia Arden, a California model who
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: says Epstein assaulted her in a Santa Monica hotel room.
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: Posing as a talent scout for Victoria's Secret, Epstein invited
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: Arden to his hotel for an addition. When she arrived,
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: he grabbed her and tried to undress her, saying he
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: wanted to manhandle her, Arden said in an interview with
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: The New York Times. What's more, the Times reported Wexner
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: was told in the mid nineteen nineties that Epstein was
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: attempting to sell himself as a recruiter for Victoria's Secret models,
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: according to two executives at the time. The l Brand's
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: board has hired a law firm to investigate Epstein's role
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: with the company, Though a spokeswoman has said she believed
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: she was never employed by the company or served as
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: an authorized representative. Well, we know that's bs. What does
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: authorized representative even mean if he has power of attorney
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: meaning Epstein, doesn't that mean that he has the whole
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: entire keys to every room in the castle Incline shooting
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: el Brands and Victoria secret So quick playing loose with
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: the truth here? Okay, we know what's up, and we
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: know that Epstein was in control of all of it.
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: Mysterious money. In January two thousand and eight, Epstein transferred
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: forty seven million dollars from his company and his own
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: foundation to one created about a month earlier by Abigail Wexner.
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: The transfer occurred a few months after the Wexners severed
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: ties with Epstein following his indictment on sex charges in
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: Florida in September of two thousand and seven. This payment
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: raised plenty of eyebrows when the Columbus Dispatch reported it
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: in July. Why would Abigail accept money from an accused
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: pedophile she and her husband just fired? And of course
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: this has to do with the so called money that
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: Epstein stole from them. I've always been very skeptical about
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: that story. By the way, I always thought that was
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: one of their built in plans and plots in case
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: Epstein ever got caught, they'd say, oh, look he stole
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: this money from us, and give them meaning the Wexner's
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: plausible deniability. The answer came in August, when Less revealed
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: that in the fall of two thousand and seven he
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: discovered that Epstein had taken vast sums of money from
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: me and my family. The forty seven million dollar donation
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: was actually a partial repayment for the misappropriated funds, Wexner
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: said in his August eighth statement, all of that money,
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: every dollar, was originally Wexner family money. Wexner wrote, I'm
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: embarrassed that, like so many others, I was deceived by
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: mister Epstein. I know now that my trust in him
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: was grossly misplaced. Who buys that? I mean, maybe the
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: leaders in Columbus, But who amongst you out there, who's
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: going to work today, driving to work right now, with
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: your lunch next to you in the brown paper bag
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: believe this bullshit? Because I'm sure none of us out
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: there listening to this podcast have the kind of money
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: that Less Wexner does right, So none of us have
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: the access to the information that Less Wexner could access.
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: Yet we all know the story and he doesn't. I
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: find it very hard to believe that the smartest guy
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: in the room is once again being juked and duked
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: by a guy like Epstein. Very very difficult for me
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: to believe that Ohio State has also been drawn into
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: the controversy. Following Epstein's July twenty nineteen arrest, the university
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: discovered two gifts connected to the disgraced financier, one thousand
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: dollars to the Wexner Center for the Arts Membership Fund
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: in nineteen ninety and two and a half million in
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: May of two thousand and seven to the Woody Hayes
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: Athletic Center. The Athletic Center gift was done in conjunction
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: with a matching contribution from Leslie H. Wexner Charitable Fund.
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: The money fulfilled a pledge that led to the naming
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: of the Less Wexner Football Complex. A surprise seventieth birthday
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: gift to Less from Abigail in two thousand and seven. YO.
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: Ohio State needs to change this shit, the Ohio State.
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: This is an abomination. It is absolutely an abomination that
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: this guy's name is all over the city and all
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: over the facility here. I mean, is that really where
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: we're at? His name all over this place, Jess Staley's
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: name all over the place, Leon Black's dam all over
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: the place, and it's all about the doe. Let me
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: spread a little more dough around. Let me get my
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: name on some buildings. In early October of twenty nineteen,
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: Ohio State was still reviewing its records for any other
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: gifts from Epstein. The review is expected to finish soon.
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: The university hasn't decided what it will do with the
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: tarnish money, but it could donate equivalent funds to charity.
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: Less Than Abigail Wexner have been a great community leaders
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: and supporters of Ohio State for many years. Ohio State
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: President Michael Drake said in a statement provided to Columbus Monthly.
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: They have done so much to uplift both the university
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: and the city of Columbus, and we sincerely appreciate their
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: ongoing service and support. I continue to rely on Lesson
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: Abigail as valued partners and friends. Well that's nice, Michael Drake.
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: I wonder if you've ever taken the time to, you know,
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: call the girls who've been abused by you know, Wexner
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: allegedly and talk to them because I'm guessing that they
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: have a different opinion. What's the next chapter for Wexner
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: and the Epstein saga? Perhaps a court date with one
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: of the country's most famous and outspoken attorneys. Alan Dershowitz.
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: The retired Harvard law professor, was one of the first
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: celebrities to be accused of participating in Epstein's sex trafficking ring.
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: The one time member of Oj Simpson's legal dream team
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: is waging a scorched earth campaign in the courts and
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: in the media to clear his name, and Wexner may
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: be a key to his defense. Well, we know that
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: with hindsight as our friend, that dershowitz scorched earth has
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: really turned out to be nothing more than a few
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: dirty bombs that didn't work. It's a convoluted story, but
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: the gist is. The gist of Dershowitz's argument is that
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: he wasn't the real target of his accuser, Virginia Roberts.
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: He was merely stalking horse and Roberts and our attorney
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: David Boyce, a fellow legal luminary who represented al Gore
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: during the two thousand Florida recount were really after Wexner
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: and his riches for about four years. Dershowitz made this
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: extortion claim in court filings and in media interviews, but
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: interest has increased since Roberts filed a defamation lawsuit against
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: Dershowitz in April of twenty nineteen and the FBI arrested
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: Epstein three months later. Now we all know how it's
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: spiraled out of control basically since then, and we all
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: know how much evidence has been provided since then, but
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: yet still no movement. You would think with all this
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: evidence that's been provided, and I'm talking reams of it, folks,
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: that there'd be a little more movement here. Dershowitz tells
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: Columbus Monthly his legal team intends to feature Wexner if
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: a trial moves forward, which could occur in about a year.
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: He is one of the most critical witnesses for my trial.
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: Dershowitz says. Other witnesses could include Abigail and John Zeiger,
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: the Wexner family Columbus attorney. At issue is a series
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: of phone calls and one face to face meeting that
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: occurred in twenty fifteen between Robert's lawyers and Zyger. Dershowitz
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: says he spoke to Abigail and Zyger and both use
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: the word shakedown to describe Boys's tactics prior to the
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: face to face meeting that occurred at the attorney's New
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: York law offices in July of two thoy and fifteen.
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: Now we all know that's bupkis, and we all know
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: that the Wexners have come out and said now that
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: that conversation never even occurred. The court proceedings could prove
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: unpleasant for Wexner. Dershowitz and his legal team want to
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: know what was the say discussed during the phone calls
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: and the meeting, in hopes they will discover something that
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: will undermine the claims of Roberts, potentially dragging Wexner through
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: the mud. And I think it's significant to point out
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: that before all of this, Dershowitz and all these people
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: were friends. But you see how quickly Dershowitz is willing
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: to throw people under the bus when it comes to
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: self preservation. That's the kind of man this is. I
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: hate to be doing this, says Dershowitz, who attended Wexner's
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: fifty ninth birthday party in nineteen ninety six at the
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: invitation of Epstein and taught Wexner's son Harry at Harvard.
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: I like Leslie Wexner, He's done an enormous amount of
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: good to the world, to the Jewish community, community, for Israel,
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: for Harvard. But the truth has to come out. Well,
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: the truth is, mister Dershowitz, nobody believes you, and you
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: haven't come forward with any evidence. You haven't come forward
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: with anything that makes people sit up and say, oh, well,
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: Dershey might be telling the truth here. In fact, my friend,
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: let's put aside all the allegations by Virgin for a moment,
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: and let's talk about your role in securing this, this
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: sweetheart plea deal. Who were you cajoling behind the scenes.
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: Sir boys didn't respond to a request for comment, but
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: in the court affter David he denied the extortion claim,
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: adding that no settlement demand was made or even discussed
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: with Wexner or his attorney. A source close to Wexner
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: also says there was no extortion, So again, Dershowitz hasn't
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: even had to answer for this. Next time, Sean Hannity
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: trucks Dershowitz out. Maybe stupid ass, Hannity can ask him
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: some questions about this. Probably not, but you know it
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: would be nice. As the Epstein story in Gulf Wexner,
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: some Columbus leaders worried the city might overreact. What if
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: protests occurred? What if names are removed from buildings? What
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: if the city turns its back on its most influential family.
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: If that were to happen, the thinking goes, then the
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: Wexners might give up on the city. That would be
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: the most horrible thing that what happened to Columbus, says
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: a business leader. It's not horrible having a guy who
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: was involved with Epstein as the top dog down there. YO,
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: get your shit together in Columbus, folks, and any of
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: these politicians that come out and say shit like that,
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: they should be voted out of office. What if it
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: was your kid who was being abused by Epstein and
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: his buddies. Let that ruminate for a little while. That
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: scenario hasn't occurred, the civic leader say, Wexner remains just
• 45:30
  Speaker 1: as engaged as ever. In early September of twenty nineteen,
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: he joined seventy five community leaders, sixty CEOs plus public
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: officials such as Columbus Mayor Andy Ginther and Franklin County
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: Commissioner Marilyn Brown for the Columbus Partnership annual two day
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: retreat in Boston. Hosted by the Harvard Kennedy School, The
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: retreat featured big picture planning, small group discussions, and high
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: profile guest speakers, including biographer Walter Isaacson and the New
• 45:59
  Speaker 1: York Times Beijing bureau chief Jane Perlz. I mean, really,
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: these are all the people that are gonna go and
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: tell you how to live your life. These are all
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: the people that are gonna be the trend setters, the
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: people who are going to set the laws. But yet
• 46:13
  Speaker 1: they can't find it in their heart to tell Les
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: Wexner to kick fucking rocks until he explains himself. And
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: this is why I find it so hollow and so
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: vapid and so ridiculous when you have people out here, oh,
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: my democracy, this my democracy that, and nobody's even willing
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: to stand up and hold these people responsible. So you
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: mean to tell me you're gonna fix democracy around the
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: world when you can't even stand up to a guy
• 46:39
  Speaker 1: like Les Wexner in your backyard. Yeah, it gives us
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: a lot of confidence that you folks are the right
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: ones to deal with putin. The conversations were spirited, enthusiastic
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: and challenging, and for attendee say, Wexner was in the
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: middle of all of it, as always listening, intently, asking questions,
• 46:58
  Speaker 1: learning alongside his fellow CEOs. Wexner didn't speak about Epstein,
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: nor did anyone ask him. Okay, Jane Perlez, the New
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: York Times Beijing bureau chief, too busy, what's going on?
• 47:10
  Speaker 1: You got too much going on over there to ask
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: a few questions here La fungoule. His work in the community,
• 47:19
  Speaker 1: his work in his company, the work of his family.
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: Those are his loves, says a partnership member, adding with
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: a laugh, he doesn't golf. As the retreat closed, Wexner
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: gave his traditional benediction. He thanked all for their commitment
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: and participation, stressing that Columbus Oh is the success of
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: the past decades. The leaders committed to being in the room. Yeah,
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: like you were in the room with Epstein. Like you
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: were in the room. While this abusic occurred, according to
• 47:44
  Speaker 1: Virginia Will Wexner remain in the room, or more specifically,
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: at the head of the table. Those four attendees are
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: in agreement. He's not going anywhere, despite his advancing age,
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: despite the trouble of that Victoria's secret, despite it's the
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: same less one says, I mean for real. So this
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: story originally appeared in twenty nineteen. So think about that
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: and everything we know now, And do you think that
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: Les Wexner is going to remain bulletproof here or do
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: you think the constant chiseling away is eventually going to
• 48:21
  Speaker 1: bust the facade that he is built for himself. My
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: hope is that if we continue to chip away, eventually
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: the whole will be big enough that people will have
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: to take a look. So we keep on keeping on, folks.
• 48:37
  Speaker 1: If you'd like to contact me, you can do that
• 48:40
  Speaker 1: at Bobby Kapuchi at ProtonMail dot com. That's bo bb
• 48:44
  Speaker 1: Y c ap u Cci at ProtonMail dot com. You
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: can also find me on Twitter at Bobby Underscore c
• 48:53
  Speaker 1: ap u Cci. The link that we discussed can be
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: found in the description box.