Latest / The Vault: The Epstein Files / Mega Edition: Les Wexner And The Epstein Related Q&A Session With Congress (6/3/26)

Transcript

Mega Edition: Les Wexner And The Epstein Related Q&A Session With Congress (6/3/26) · The Vault: The Epstein Files

0:00
Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
0:03
Epstein Chronicles. Over the past seven years or so, it's
0:08
become rather obvious to anyone paying attention that Les Wexner
0:13
was deeply entangled with Jeffrey Epstein. Whether it was financially
0:18
or personally, these two shared quite the relationship, and that
0:23
relationship has never been fully explained. And now with the
0:28
Jeffrey Epstein controversy back in the news and people starting
0:32
to get educated about what really happened, they have questions
0:36
about Les Wexner and why he was never truly investigated.
0:40
How come Wexner was never brought in and deposed, how
0:44
come Wexner was never investigated for the allegations made against
0:49
him by numerous people, and what motivated him to give
0:52
a guy like Jeffrey Epstein the keys to the kingdom. Well,
0:57
now he's going to be deposed by Congress and hopefully
1:00
will get some answers to those questions. Of course, I
1:03
have my doubts that he's going to clarify anything. Considering
1:07
his age, he'll probably say that he's too old. Oh,
1:10
I don't remember that. Ah, I'm too old. I don't
1:13
know what you're talking about. Or he'll just plead the fifth.
1:18
Because if you think that Les Wexner is going to
1:20
out himself after all these years, you have not been
1:23
paying attention. This is not the kind of guy who's
1:26
going to out himself, and he's done his very best
1:29
to avoid this controversy at all costs. But it looks
1:33
like the storm has finally caught up to Les Wexner.
1:38
The only question is just how wet is he going
1:41
to get? Today's article is from The Guardian and the
1:45
headline question swirl over Ohio billionaire Les Wexner and his
1:49
ties to Jeffrey Epstein. This article was authored by Steven Starr.
1:55
Les Wexner's alleged note to Jeffrey Epstein marking his fiftieth
1:58
birthday in two thousand and three included a hand drawing
2:02
of a woman's breasts. Oh, come on, Less Wexner is
2:04
just a great guy, just an old fella. You know,
2:07
a guy that's trying to live his life. Why you
2:09
bothering him while you attacking his reputation. Imagine having that
2:15
kind of outlook on life you're worried about Less fucking Wexner.
2:19
Give me a break. This student his fucking companies destroyed
2:22
a whole last generation, set up a whole generation to
2:25
be groomed. But sure, let's give Less Wexner a pass
2:29
because he gives some money to various charities. Do people
2:34
even listen to yourselves? And yet today the billionaire Wexner's
2:39
name and portrait sits front and center across Ohio's most
2:43
respected institution, the Ohio State University. I mean not shocking
2:48
considering what we know about the university, what we know
2:51
about the wrestling program, and what we know about Jim
2:54
Jordan's inaction when it comes to what was going on.
2:58
Why is anyone shocked that they'd be in bed No
3:00
pun intended with Les Wexner as well. I mean, they
3:03
let doctor Strauss do whatever he wanted for all those years.
3:06
On the college's sprawling campus north of downtown Columbus, there's
3:11
the Wexner Center for the Arts, the Ohio State University,
3:15
Wexner a Medical Center, the Wexner Jewish Student Center, and
3:19
the Less Wexner Football Complex. Every last one of those
3:22
places should have his name ripped directly off the building,
3:25
but they won't. They don't have any shame whatsoever. The
3:28
only way that's going to occur is if Less Wexner
3:31
is outed for the real scumbag that he is, But
3:35
as of now, he still has that cover right, they're
3:38
still protecting him. His name and image are also found
3:42
across Ohio State's university website, and the billionaire continues to
3:46
serve as chair of the Colleges Wexner Medical Center Board.
3:51
The dude created jeans and bras why is he on
3:54
the Medical Center Board? Born in Dayton in nineteen thirty seven,
3:59
the son of a Russian Jewish immigrant father, Wexner is
4:02
among the most important figures in the rise of convicted
4:06
sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. The release last month of a
4:10
trove of Epstein files by the Department of Justice saw
4:13
at least half a dozen photos of Wexner. Look, it
4:16
runs so much deeper than that, and we've talked about
4:19
it a million times. When it comes to Less Wexner,
4:24
there's never been an explanation for his behavior, for why
4:28
he did what he did. When it comes to Jeffrey Epstein,
4:31
now we have the cover story. Well, Epstein stole money
4:34
from me, so that's why we weren't friends anymore. But
4:37
I have my suspicions that that was baked in that
4:41
that was the escape patch. If you will, hey, look
4:45
less I ever get naeld. We'll just say that you
4:47
stole that I stole money from you, and you know
4:49
it'll be all good. You'll get your distance, and on
4:52
Wexner's end, he'll say, well, we didn't decide to press
4:55
charges because it was embarrassing. Does anyone and believe that
5:01
somebody stole that kind of money from you? You're just
5:03
gonna let it slide. Let's just write it off, especially
5:07
a guy like Les Wexner. I highly doubt it. This
5:11
dude probably knows where every penny is. You think rich
5:15
people get rich and stay rich by losing track of
5:18
millions of dollars. By granting Epstein power of attorney over
5:22
much of his vast wealth in ninety one, critics say
5:24
Wexner played a key role in facilitating Epstein's social standing
5:28
and vast influence over powerful world leaders. Well yeah, if
5:33
you're somebody else who has a bunch of dough and
5:35
you see he's managing Less Wexner's money, you think to yourself, well,
5:39
if he's handling Wexner's dough, then he can handle mine too,
5:43
So he gives him that air of legitimacy, right, and
5:47
that opening that door in places like JP Morgan so
5:52
les Wexner and his patronage of Jeffrey Epstein from the
5:56
very beginning played a gigantic role in Jeffrey Epstein's rise,
6:00
and that's certainly something that's not even debatable. And with
6:08
much of Epstein's database yet to be released, observers say
6:11
more evidence of Wexner and Epstein's close ties are likely
6:14
to emerge in the weeks and months ahead, and I'm
6:18
sure a lot of it's going to come as a
6:19
shock to a lot of people, not to you. You
6:22
already know the kind of scumbag we're dealing with. You
6:25
already know how much he helped Jeffrey Epstein on the rise,
6:30
and you already know that Wexner has never answered any
6:34
questions when it comes to his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
6:38
And look, I know he's scheduled to be deposed, but
6:40
I have my doubts. And like I said previously, my
6:43
guess is he's going to say that there's some kind
6:46
of medical issue that keeps him from remembering something in
6:50
that realm. All the while Donald Trump's relationship with Epstein
6:57
lurks in the political background, with midterm elects on the
7:00
horizon and Trump's base furious over the delay of the
7:04
full release of the Epstein files. Democrats have accused the
7:07
Trump administration of attempting to cover up the president's hize
7:11
to Epstein. Yo, I'm as far away from a Democrat
7:15
as you could possibly get. I don't trust either party,
7:18
but let's not act like the Democrats are the only
7:20
ones calling this a cover up. I'm calling it a
7:23
cover up, and plenty of other people who are certainly
7:26
not Democrats are calling it a cover up. And I
7:29
think there's a coalition building of people who are just
7:32
fed up and sick. And I don't think it matters
7:36
what your political affiliation is as long as you have
7:39
one goal in mind, complete destruction of everybody who was
7:43
involved in this bullshit. We can get back to our
7:46
petty fighting later, because in this moment, there's only two sides, folks,
7:51
good and evil. And if you're on the side of
7:55
Jeffrey Epstein and his enablers and the people trying to
7:58
cover this up, I have bad news for you. You are
8:01
not on the side of good. Trump says that he
8:03
cut ties with Epstein in two thousand and seven. Wexner
8:07
has denied any knowledge of Epstein's abuse and says he
8:10
has cooperated with the FBI at every turn. Wexner has
8:15
not been charged with any crime. The eighty eight year
8:18
old says he cut ties with Epstein in two thousand
8:20
and seven, denies any knowledge of his crimes, and claims
8:23
Epstein stole millions of dollars from him. Despite his name
8:27
appearing as a possible co conspirator by the FBI and
8:31
its investigation into Epstein in twenty nineteen, no charges werever
8:35
filed against Wexner. Well, that's because the scope, and that's
8:40
the excuse a lot of people like to use. Well,
8:42
no charges were filed against anybody else. This is a
8:45
big hoax. That was all part of the plan, you
8:48
dumb fuck. Pay attention, smooth brained idiot. The whole last
8:51
reason that the charges were so narrow is so that
8:54
it only caught Epstein up. Well, you thought they were
8:58
going to give up the whole infrastructure, you dodo bird.
9:01
The whole entire plan was based on Epstein being the
9:04
frontman and being a burnable asset. That's how this works.
9:08
And then once he's gone, they all have plausible deniability, right.
9:13
But the whole entire idea was for him to never
9:15
get caught up, and that's why he got that sweetheart deal.
9:18
And then the second time around, the narrow charges only
9:22
included himself. Nobody else was hit with any indictments. Now,
9:25
there might have been some sealed indictments that were never processed,
9:29
but we all know the story here, and we all
9:32
know that the scope was so narrow by design. If
9:36
they were serious, they would have hit his ass with
9:38
rico like everybody else. So that's all you really need
9:42
to know about what the FBI was up to, what
9:45
the DJ was up to. And now the people that
9:49
want to defend Jeffrey Epstein, bunch of disgusting scumbags, try
9:53
and use that as some kind of lever bro. That's
9:56
not the kind of flex you think it is. It
9:58
just proves the point that the whole entire investigation was
10:02
tilted from day one. However, just days before Epstein pleaded
10:07
guilty in Florida to soliciting sex with a child in
10:10
June of two thousand and eight, Wexner emailed Epstein offering
10:14
his apologies for the situation. He found himself in. All
10:18
I can say is I feel sorry Wexner wrote always
10:22
be careful. None of it lines up, And in my opinion,
10:25
Les Wexner is a liar. That's how I feel. I
10:30
don't trust anything he's saying. I don't trust any of
10:32
the excuses that he's tried to give us, and I
10:36
certainly don't trust anything that has spokespeople have to say.
10:39
And look, that's not based on a gut feeling here,
10:42
it's based on the facts. It's based on the lack
10:44
of facts that have been provided by Les Wexner. Today,
10:50
Wexner is making national news. The California Congressman Rocanna recently
10:55
listed him as one of six previously redacted names in
10:58
the Epstein trove, where the FBI appears to have named
11:01
them as a co conspirator. Wexner is set to be
11:04
deposed in front of the Oversight Committee on Wednesday, and
11:08
you already know we're going to have the whole transcript
11:12
for you. As soon as it becomes available, I'll get
11:15
it added to the catalog because I really want to
11:17
hear what this dude has to say for himself. All
11:20
these years later. This is going to be the first
11:22
time we actually get to hear from him. You'd think
11:25
that somebody would attract him down and had a real
11:28
conversation at some point. But when you have this kind
11:31
of money, you have this kind of power, and you're
11:33
throwing out two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to the
11:36
Republican Governor's Association, you get a little bit of leeway,
11:41
don't you. You get the benefit of the doubt. Meanwhile,
11:44
Epstein's survivors don't get any benefits, and they get all
11:48
the doubts. The model town that Epstein helped build and
11:52
a culture of silence. Back in the early nineteen nineties,
11:57
New Albany was a sleepy Midwestern suburb home to sixteen
12:01
hundred people whose homes were dotted between vast corn and
12:04
soybean fields. Columbus Monthly reported that in nineteen eighty five,
12:09
a candidate for the position of mayor of New Albany
12:12
received forty eight votes and won the election. Now, New
12:16
Albany is a community of white picket fences, private driveways,
12:20
and Georgian style homes whose most famous resident, Wexner, has
12:25
built a mini empire. Wexner's three hundred and forty acre estate,
12:29
both several mansions and state of the art equestrian facilities.
12:33
Even the homes bordering Wexner's estate, built by the billionaire
12:37
in the nineties are hidden away behind locked gates. And
12:40
we all know what Maria said. We all know that
12:43
Maria said that she was kidnapped and held against her
12:45
will at this property at New Aubany. Her father had
12:49
to drive twelve hours to come and collect her. Well, yeah,
12:53
less Wexner, hell of a guy. Wexner's estate is so
12:59
opulent that it fueled Instagram reels. The convicted sex trafficker
13:03
and Epstein co conspirator Glenn Maxwell remarked last year that
13:07
it was one of the biggest private homes I've ever
13:09
been to. And that's coming from Maxwell, miss stiff upper
13:15
lip of British society. So that tells you just how
13:19
big this property is, just how vast the whole entire
13:23
area is. Across the road from Wexner's home is one
13:28
of the top rated country clubs in the state, designed
13:31
by Jack Nicholas, Abercrombie and Fitch, the clothing brand once
13:35
owned by Wexner, which courted controversy for selling thongs marketed
13:40
at pre teenage Girls in two thousand and two is
13:42
headquartered into Aubany. Yeah, the same company that Jeffrey Epstein
13:47
used to rope girls in. Oh yeah, that company, the
13:52
same company that groomed the whole generation. You got it,
13:57
Abercrombie and Fitch. Folks marketing thongs to t agers. But yeah,
14:01
Les Wexner, no questions about his behavior while he was
14:05
with Jeffrey Epstein. Seems like a very well adjusted man,
14:08
right right, All right, folks, We're gonna wrap up this
14:11
episode right here, and in the next episode, we're gonna
14:14
pick up where we left off. All of the information
14:17
that goes with this episode can be found in the
14:21
description box. What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode
14:26
of the Epstein Chronicles. In this episode, we're gonna pick
14:29
up where we left off with the article about Les Wexner.
14:33
Along the city's eastern fringes is a huge under construction
14:37
semiconductor fabrication plant plus data centers owned by Google and Meta.
14:43
New Albany was also known to Epstein. Epstein owned at
14:47
least two properties in New Albany, a thirty five hundred
14:50
square foot home close to the country club that was
14:53
sold to Wexner's wife Abigail in two thousand and seven
14:56
four zero dollars and the palatial mansion hidden deep behind
15:00
gates off East Dublin Granville Road and inside the Wexner estate,
15:05
which Country records show Epstein bought from a company owned
15:09
by Wexner and others for three and a half million
15:12
in ninety two and sold in nineteen ninety eight. That
15:16
same year, Epstein was named as co president of the
15:20
new Aubany company alongside Wexner. So, for all the people
15:24
out there that don't believe in the Vascuuman trafficking allegations,
15:29
how can you even deny that there was a ton
15:31
of money laundering and god knows what else going on?
15:36
We have tangible evidence of that. What is that? No
15:39
big deal? Is that okay? Because if it's okay, then
15:43
everybody that's rotting in prison for twenty years for wire fraud,
15:47
money laundering and everything else, will they should be released?
15:50
Right Because if it's no big deal, then it's no
15:54
big deal. But we know that in reality it's a
15:58
big deal for us, not for them. They can launder money,
16:03
they can traffic people, they can do whatever they want
16:06
as long as you have the kind of money that
16:07
Les Wexner has. It was at the latter residence that
16:10
the artist Maria Farmer says that she was sexually assaulted
16:14
by Epstein. Farmer, considered an up and coming artist in
16:17
New York, was at the estate for several months during
16:20
the summer of nineteen ninety six. She was serving as
16:24
an artist in residence at the behest of Jeffrey Epstein.
16:28
Jennifer Freeman, Farmer's lawyer says. During that time, in late
16:32
July or early August, Farmer says, Epstein and Maxwell sexually
16:36
assaulted her. And as most of you know, I know Maria,
16:41
and I've interviewed Maria several times, and I certainly believe
16:44
what she has to say about Les Wexner and about
16:47
Jeffrey Epstein. During that time in late July or early August,
16:54
Farmer says Epstein and Maxwell sexually assaulted her. Her attorney
16:58
says she was kept captive for many hours for many days,
17:02
Maria was physically threatened by a local sheriff and other
17:05
persons connected with Wexner and prevented her from leaving the
17:10
New Aubany property, says the complaint filed last May by
17:13
Farmer's lawyer on her behalf against the US government for negligence.
17:18
The complaint also claims Farmer contacted the FBI to report
17:22
that Epstein had been sexually assaulting her and that he
17:26
and others were involved in the sexual exploitation and trafficking
17:29
of miners. The complaint alleges that the FBI agent taking
17:34
Farmer's call in nineteen ninety six hung up on her,
17:37
and no one from the agency ever attempted to follow
17:40
up with her. Well, we know that she did report
17:42
him because we got the documentation in the dump. So
17:47
if she was telling the truth about that, that should
17:50
lead us to believe she's telling the truth about the
17:52
rest of it. Farmer's lawyer said she had no interaction
17:56
with Wexner in New Aubany during that time. However, Virginia Roberts,
18:01
one of the most prominent victims of Epstein's sex trafficking
18:04
enterprise and who died by suicide last year, alleged that
18:08
she was sexually trafficked to Wexner along with others. It's
18:12
something Wexner has denied. Mister Wexner was unaware of and
18:16
never participant in, any of the abhorrent behavior engaged in
18:20
by Epstein against Epstein's victims. Wexner's attorneys wrote at the
18:25
time the news emerged, mister Wexner never met Miss Roberts.
18:29
Any claims of the contrary were not true. Tom Davies,
18:33
a spokesperson for Wexner, told The Guardian prior to the
18:37
news coverage a miss Farmer, mister Wexner had no knowledge
18:40
of her, never met her, never spoke with her, and
18:43
never spoke with mister Epstein or anyone else about her. No,
18:46
we have no idea. Again, I have no idea who
18:49
Jeffrey Epstein is. That was a real person, wild I
18:53
thought Epstein was a fake guy and he was just
18:55
made up. In a twenty nineteen statement by Wexner made
19:03
to associates of L Brands, the company he founded and
19:07
led until twenty twenty, and shared with Guardian by Davies,
19:11
he wrote, I would not have continued to work with
19:13
any individual capable of such egregious, sickening behavior as has
19:19
been reported about him. Oh yeah, sure, we all believe you,
19:23
Les Wexner. But evidence has emerged suggesting that their relationship
19:30
was close. In the note Wexner gave to Abstein on
19:33
the occasion of the latter's fiftieth birthday in two thousand
19:36
and three. Wexner, above the drawing of one of the
19:39
women's breast, allegedly wrote, I wanted to get you what
19:42
you want, so here it is. I know, I know,
19:44
no big deal, just locker room talk, right, what are use?
19:47
Some kind of puritan Time to move on. Last July,
19:53
Maxwell told the Deputy US Attorney General and colleagues that
19:57
Ebstein ran New Albany. Member of New Aubany residents and
20:01
business owners approached by The Guardian declined to comment on
20:04
Wexner and his ties to Epstein or the former's role
20:08
in life in New Aubany. Emails sent to the town's mayor,
20:11
Sloan Spalding, were not responded to. Yo, do you guys
20:16
not understand yet? Les Wexner runs that whole entire place.
20:20
And it's not because he's charismatic. It's because he's rich
20:25
as fuck. Under Wexner's governance, Models at Victoria's Secret claimed
20:31
abuse took place for years. A twenty nineteen Hulu documentary
20:36
claimed the company ran campaigns in the early two thousands
20:40
that specifically targeted teenage girls. In twenty twenty, l Brands,
20:45
which owned Victoria's secret at the time, issued a statement
20:48
to The New York Times that expressed regret without disputing
20:51
the claims. Wexner has even been the subject of a
20:55
twenty twenty two pop song referred to as an old
20:58
man who lives in Ohio making money off girls like me. Columbus,
21:04
at twenty minute drive west of New Aubany has been
21:07
Wexner's town for decades. In nineteen eighty five, he was
21:11
a founding member of the Ohio State University Foundation. By
21:15
two thousand and two, he and others established the Columbus
21:18
Partnership on Paper, a nonprofit but which today represents large
21:23
businesses that courted controversy for allegedly steering millions of dollars
21:28
in state funding. Alongside longtime friend and New Aubany developer
21:32
Jack Kessler, its executive committee is a who's who of
21:36
some of the most powerful corporate names in the region.
21:40
The Guardian has contacted the Columbus Partnership for comment. Ohio
21:44
State faces controversy over Wexner ties. For decades. Wexner has
21:49
loomed large over the Ohio State University community, which enrolls
21:54
more than eighty thousand students from more than one hundred
21:57
countries every year. The college, which is a cornerstone economic
22:02
powerhouse in Ohio, employing more than fifty three thousand people,
22:07
But like other colleges, it's facing increasing challenges. Well maybe,
22:12
just maybe you should stop increasing tuition rate. That might
22:16
help out a little bit. Enrollment has fallen by several
22:21
thousand students since twenty nineteen. At the beginning of the
22:27
current academic year, the university recorded the biggest fall in
22:30
number of first year students in its one hundred and
22:34
fifty five year history. Since freshmen are acquired to live
22:37
in campus accommodation, a source of millions of dollars for
22:40
the university, a significant decline in enrollment could undermine its
22:45
wider finances, making it more reliant on support from donors
22:49
such as Wexner, who graduated from Ohio State in nineteen
22:53
fifty nine. Wexner and his limited brand's foundation have donated
22:58
hundreds of millions of dollars to a work Ohio State
23:01
over the decades, But now the money that it's been
23:04
taking from Wexner risks its reputation as it simultaneously deals
23:09
with the decade's old sexual abuse scandal. Former students at
23:13
Ohio State are suing the university for one hundred and
23:16
seventy seven counts of alleged sexual abuse by a former
23:20
college employee, Richard Strauss, a medical doctor who worked there
23:24
for decades until the nineteen nineties, a time when Wexner
23:28
served on the university's board four months. Former student athletes
23:33
have attempted to subpoena Wexner to appear in court to
23:36
investigate what role, if any, the billionaire played in Strauss's employment. However,
23:42
until now, Wexner's private security has allegedly prevented any delivery
23:47
of subpoena documents to him. Even the Franklin County Sheriff's
23:51
office failed on two occasions to have documents delivered to
23:54
Wechner's address. In December, lawyers for the university even contested
23:59
a motion by a group called Survivors of OSU that
24:03
has called for Wexner to be deposed. Imagine being that
24:07
locked in, Imagine having that kind of support from the
24:10
university that you have kids or men now who are abused,
24:14
who want some justice, and instead of cutting ties with
24:19
Wexner as a show of support, you just get deeper
24:22
into the hole with Wexner. So Ohio State University, They've
24:27
earned everything that's come in their way. But Wexner's close
24:31
ties to Epstein and Ohio State have fueled a ground
24:34
swallow criticism of the college. The connection between Epstein and
24:38
Wexner is undeniable. It does not give a good look
24:41
to OSU. At the very least, we as representatives should
24:46
be calling on the institution to further investigate Les Wexner
24:49
and his connection to Epstein, says state representative Mounira Abdulali,
24:55
whose district includes New Albany. Wexner is a big part
24:58
of that town. First of we want to know where
25:01
is Wexner. He's not come to testify. People want to
25:04
hear it brings bad press to the town. People want accountability. Yeah,
25:09
I highly doubt that nobody in New Aubany, at least
25:12
nobody in power. A university review into donations by Ohio
25:17
State published in twenty twenty, found that Epstein and his
25:20
foundation had donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the university.
25:25
Years earlier, millions of dollars more were donated Bio Wexner
25:29
through Epstein to the university. Ohio State officials say that
25:33
three hundred and thirty six thousand dollars received by Epstein
25:36
and Jay Epstein Foundation was thereafter donated to the State
25:40
of Ohio's human trafficking fund. Oh well, that absolves them,
25:44
No big deal. Everything's cool now as they have Les
25:47
Wexner's name plastered all over the school. Somebody make it
25:52
make sense. Several state representatives, including Abdullahali, are set to
25:59
hold a press Comptfrints on February twenty fourth, calling for
26:02
the removal of Weser's name from OSU facilities. The university's website, however,
26:08
notes that removing and naming designation is a serious step
26:12
that will only occur under exceptional and narrow circumstances. Yeah,
26:17
I guess being involved in the world's biggest human trafficking
26:20
scheme and money laundering plot doesn't rate. Keep that in mind.
26:29
It recently declined a request to have his name removed
26:32
from a football practice facility. Thus far, the university has
26:36
put out more than sixty million to two hundred and
26:39
ninety six Straus survivors, according to university spokesperson Ben Johnson.
26:44
Since twenty eighteen, Ohio State has sincerely and persistently tried
26:49
to reconcile with survivors of Strauss's abuse through monetary and
26:53
non monetary means, says Johnson, adding that all male students
26:57
who filed lawsuits have been off for the opportunity to settle.
27:02
The remaining plaintiffs elected to continue litigation, and it's important
27:05
that we allow the legal process to proceed all the while.
27:09
Ohio State will open a new twenty six story, state
27:12
of the art university hospital facility on the main college
27:16
campus this month. Its top three floors is a maternity
27:20
ward that the university claims will offer breathtaking views a
27:25
few dozen feet overhead. In a large white print, Wexner's
27:28
name appears above all others. So look, folks, you know
27:33
the score, and you know that these institutions, you know
27:36
these businesses, they don't give a shit. And the only
27:39
way anything's ever going to change is if we force
27:42
the matter. And in order to do that, we have
27:44
to hear from people like Les Wexner. So we'll see
27:48
what he has to say when he's deposed on Wednesday tomorrow,
27:52
and once those transcripts are ready to go, will get
27:55
them added to the catalog. As far as this one, Well,
27:58
that's going to do it. All of the information that
28:01
goes with this episode can be found in the description box.
28:06
What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
28:10
Epstein Chronicles. As of the time that we're recording this episode,
28:16
Les Wexner is sitting down with Congress being deposed. But
28:20
before he went in for the deposition, he actually released
28:24
a statement. So in this episode, we're going to take
28:26
a look at that statement and see what Les Wexner
28:29
had to say for himself. So with that said, let's
28:33
dive right into the statement. I am pleased to testify today.
28:38
Pleased because it's an opportunity to set the record straight.
28:42
Over the years, I've been the subject of outrageous, untrue
28:45
statements and hurt full rumor, innuendo and speculation. Let me
28:50
state from the start I was naive, foolish, and gullible
28:55
to put any trust in Jeffrey Epstein. He was a
28:58
con man. And while I was conned, I have done
29:01
nothing wrong and have nothing to hide. I completely and
29:05
irrevocably cut ties with Epstein nearly twenty years ago when
29:09
I learned that he was an abuser, a crook, and
29:12
a liar, and let me be crystal clear. I never witnessed,
29:17
nor had any knowledge of Epstein's criminal activity. I was
29:20
never a participant nor a co conspirator in any of
29:23
Epstein's legal activity. To my enormous embarrassment and regret, I,
29:29
like many others, were duped by a world class con man.
29:34
I can undo that part of my personal history, even
29:36
as I regret ever having met him. Before going any further, though,
29:41
I want to acknowledge the survivors of Epstein's terrible crimes
29:45
and the devastation that each of them has endured as
29:48
a result. The pain that he inflicted upon them is
29:52
unfathomable to me. My heart goes out to each one
29:56
of them. I want you to know something about them.
30:00
Seated before you. I am eighty eight years old, a
30:03
husband to Abigail since nineteen ninety three, the father of
30:07
four adult children, and proudly a grandfather. I've lived in
30:12
Ohio my entire life. I'm a philanthropist, community builder, business
30:17
owner and founder and former CEO of L Brands. I
30:22
constantly strive to live my life in an ethical manner
30:26
in line with my moral compass, devoting time and energy
30:30
to my faith, my community, my business, my l brand's associates,
30:36
and my family and my friends. I founded the Limited
30:40
Stores in nineteen sixty three with a five thousand dollars
30:43
loan from my ant Ida. I grew the company from
30:46
one small store the Limited by creating, acquiring, and leading
30:51
the development of a large, multidivisional retail company of brands
30:56
such as Express, Bath and body Works, Victoria's secret learner,
31:00
Lane Bryant, Abercrombie and Fitch, and Henry Bendel. I took
31:05
the company public in nineteen sixty nine and was the
31:08
longest serving CEO of a publicly traded company at the
31:12
time of my retirement in twenty twenty. While also running
31:17
ol brands, I planned, marketed, designed, and developed both the
31:21
Village of New Aubany, one of the largest planned communities
31:25
in America, and Eastern Town Center, an innovative outdoor retail
31:29
center in my hometown of Columbus, Ohio. As an important
31:34
part of my long standing commitment to philanthropy, I created
31:38
and continue to personally participate in the Wexner Foundation, which
31:43
develops leaders and public servants. The total amount of our
31:48
family's philanthropic giving to worthy causes exceeds a billion dollars.
31:54
Nearly every waking hour during my work weeks was spent
31:58
on the business. My weekends were also filled by business responsibilities,
32:03
my real estate development interests, community charitable projects, and ultimately
32:08
my growing family. Given these demanding time commitments, I long
32:13
ago began hiring others to manage my personal finances, starting
32:17
with Harold Levine, then Epstein, followed by Dennis Hirsch, and
32:22
now a combination of my wife Abigail, and then outside
32:25
multi family office. I was introduced to Epstein in the
32:30
mid to late eighties by Bob Measter, the former vice
32:33
chairman of Aon. Bob knew I needed help managing my
32:38
personal finances and suggested that I speak with Epstein. I
32:43
did not rely solely on Bob's recommendation. I consulted a
32:47
Screenberg and Jimmy Kaine of bear Stearns, Epstein's former employer,
32:52
both of whom endorsed Epstein without hesitation. Epstein also offered
32:58
a reference, Eli de Rothschild. When I spoke with Eli
33:03
or Ellie, he highly recommended Epstein, based upon work Epstein
33:07
had done for his family. At first, Epstein was unwilling
33:11
to take me on as a client. In fact, for
33:14
the first few years I was acquainted with him, Epstein
33:17
offered me advice here and there, while explaining that giving
33:21
individual finance advice was not his focus and refusing to
33:25
accept compensation. He said he was assisting me as a favor.
33:30
Little did I realize that from the very start, Epstein
33:33
was conniving to gain my trust. As my financial resources
33:37
and time demands continued to grow, I formally hired Epstein
33:41
to manage my personal finances because my public company and
33:45
other duties required my full attention. I provided Epstein with
33:49
the power of attorney so he could execute transactions quickly
33:53
without constantly requiring my signature. The need for power of
33:57
attorney was clear to me, and I provided this same
34:00
scope of authority to Epstein as I did to his successor,
34:03
Dennis Hirsch. What I did not anticipate was Epstein misusing
34:08
the trust I placed in him, despite his fiduciary obligations
34:12
to act in my best interest. What is so clear
34:16
only now is that Epstein lived a double life. He
34:19
was clever, diabolical, and a master manipulator. He was meticulous
34:24
and revealing to me only glimpses into the life in
34:28
which he was a sophisticated financial guru who consulted with
34:32
heads of state, high ranking politicians, royalty university presidents, professors, CEOs, musicians,
34:39
and other luminaries. He was a member of the Trilateral
34:43
Commission and was a trustee at Rockefeller University. While I
34:48
did not socialize in Epstein's social circle, he often told
34:51
me about his famous acquaintances and important positions that he held,
34:55
and at times I experienced what seemed to be random
34:58
chance encounters, probably orchestrated by Epstein, with prominent individuals who
35:04
said they knew Epstein. Over the course of many years,
35:08
he carefully used his acquaintance with important individuals to curate
35:12
an aura of legitimacy that he then used to expand
35:15
his network of acquaintances and apparent credibility even farther. The
35:21
other life that he led that we now know was
35:24
full of unthinkable crimes he most carefully and fully hid
35:28
from me. He knew I would never have tolerated his
35:32
horrible behavior, not any of it. At no time did
35:35
I have her witness the side of Epstein's life for
35:38
which he is now famous. I'm the father of two girls,
35:42
now women, and the thought of what he did makes
35:45
me sick. I dated Abigail for three years and have
35:49
been married to her for thirty three years. Were completely
35:53
devoted to each other. And to be clear, never once
35:57
in the thirty six years have I been unfaithful to
36:00
Abigail in any way, shape or form. Never. Any suggestion
36:05
to the contrary is absolutely and entirely false. Again, to
36:10
be clear, I never saw or heard about Epstein being
36:13
in the company of a minor girl. To the contrary,
36:17
he led me to believe he was in serious and
36:20
long term relationships with two women, doctor Eva Anderson and
36:24
later Glenn Maxwell, both of whom he said he contemplated marrying.
36:30
I was never on his airplane. Contrary to rumor, I
36:33
did not give Epstein the New York townhouse. He purchased
36:36
it from me for what I was told was a
36:39
praised value. After we moved out, I never set foot
36:43
in that house again. I visited Epstein's island only once,
36:47
shortly after he purchased it, when Abigail, our young children,
36:51
and I stopped for a few hours one morning while
36:54
we were on a cruise on our boat. Again, the
36:58
side of Epstein that he chose to reveal to me
37:00
was different from the predator. He eventually was exposed to be.
37:04
As I have stated before, my contact with Epstein entirely
37:09
terminated nearly twenty years ago. In late two thousand and six,
37:14
Epstein told Abigail that he had a legal issue in
37:16
Palm Beach, but insisted that what he referred to as baseless,
37:21
trumped up charges by an over regressive police chief would
37:24
be dismissed. In two thousand and seven, however, Epstein informed
37:29
Abigail that his situation could become messy and that he
37:32
might have to spend time away. To say the least,
37:35
this was shocking. At the same time, Epstein suggested that
37:40
Abigail could handle our personal finances if he were to
37:44
become unavailable, and for the first time, he provided her
37:48
with the financial information she would need. Due to the
37:52
complexity of the information, it took time to unravel, but
37:55
after reviewing the information, it became clear to Abigail that
37:59
Epstein had had stolen vast sums from our family. Once
38:03
I learned about his abuse of conduct and theft from
38:06
my family, I never spoke to Epstein again. Never In
38:11
September of two thousand and seven, nine months before he
38:14
pled guilty in Florida. We revoked Epstein's power of attorney,
38:18
removed his access to our bank accounts, and forced him
38:21
to resign from all affiliated entities. Confronted with his financial
38:26
wrongdoing by Abigail, Epstein agreed and did return a substantial
38:31
amount of money, even while continuing to maintain his total
38:34
innocence of any wrongdoing, never dropping the con. In light
38:39
of his eventual guilty plea and deception of our family,
38:43
we completely severed our relationship with Epstein. Epstein was permanently
38:49
and irrevocably out of my life. While others visited Epstein
38:53
in jail and associated with him after his release, I
38:56
did not, nor did I witness, condone or inn his
39:00
crimes in any way. I want to thank the committee
39:03
for its effort to get to the bottom of Epstein's
39:06
con and a legal activity. I hope you are successful
39:09
in uncovering the truth and bring enclosure to all survivors.
39:14
If I'm able to assist you in that effort in
39:16
answering your questions, I'm grateful for the opportunity to do so.
39:21
All right, So that is the statement made by Les Wexner.
39:24
And as you can imagine, I have a few things
39:27
to add, but we're going to do that in a
39:29
different episode, so this one can stand on its own.
39:33
That way, you folks can listen to his words and
39:36
come to your own conclusion if you believe what he's
39:39
saying or if you don't. All of the information that
39:44
goes with this episode can be found in the description box.
39:48
What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
39:51
Epstein Chronicles. Les Wexner was deposed yesterday by members of Congress,
39:57
and according to reports, the vast majority of them felt
40:02
like les Wexner wasn't being exactly truthful and that should
40:07
not come as a shock to anybody considering how deeply
40:11
entwined Jeffrey Epstein and Less Wexner were. Well, you think
40:15
he's just gonna incriminate himself and make it easy on us.
40:18
Of course not so. Wexner was never going to be
40:22
the Rosetta Stone. He was never going to give them
40:24
the information they needed. But with that said, we'll have
40:27
to wait until the transcript becomes available until we have
40:31
a hdview of what went down. So in this episode,
40:36
what we're going to do is take a look at
40:39
what's being reported, and then when the transcripts become available.
40:42
We'll get those bad boys added to the catalog as well.
40:45
But first things first. This article is from the AP
40:49
and the headline. Billionaire Les Wexner says he was duped
40:52
by advisor Jeffrey Epstein, a world class con man. Nobody
40:57
buys that he was duped by Epstein. Okay, I guess
41:02
one of the smartest, richest men in the world dupe
41:04
by Jeffrey Epstein to the tune of what forty seven
41:08
million or so. Imagine getting forty seven million dollars pilfered
41:12
from you by a world class conmn and not reporting
41:16
that to the police or the FBI or whoever. Well,
41:20
I guess forty seven million means nothing to less Wexner
41:24
must be nice. The billionaire behind the retail empire that
41:29
wants blanketed shopping malls with names such as Victoria's Secret
41:32
and Abercrombie and Fitch told members of Congress on Wednesday
41:36
that he was duped by a world class conman, close
41:39
financial advisor Jeffrey Epstein. Less. Wexner also denied knowing about
41:44
the late sex offenders' crimes or participating in Epstein's abuse
41:48
of girls and young women. So I think the situation
41:52
with Wexner is mainly about financials. If you want to
41:56
slam the door shut on Wexner and maybe get him
41:59
on something, then financials are going to be the way
42:01
to do it. And it's just like Prince Andrew over
42:05
in the UK. You open the door with the trade
42:08
secrets and then from there I'll bets are off. And
42:12
it's really wild for me to see how many people
42:14
don't understand how these investigations go. Do you think they
42:18
just show up with a smoking gun. That's not how
42:20
it works. They open the investigation, they collect circumstantial evidence,
42:25
and then once that evidence is collected, they bring it
42:28
to a judge. They say to the judge, hey, look
42:30
here's what we have. Can we get a warrant for
42:33
so and so? And that's how all of these cases
42:36
are built. So when you hear people talking about, oh,
42:38
well that's circumstantial evidence, they really just don't know what
42:41
they're talking about. Because when you have a gigantic, sprawling
42:45
investigation such as this, you have to have an inroad,
42:49
and if that inroad is a financial crime, then so
42:52
be it. And then from there it becomes sprawling. Right,
42:57
There's something called a superseded indictment. And what that means
43:00
is later on down the road, if you're indicted for something,
43:03
if they find other crimes, they can adjust that indictment
43:06
and supersede it with a new indictment charging you with
43:09
new crimes that they found during their investigation. So it's
43:14
laughable when you see people out here talking about, well,
43:16
this has nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein, you dumb morons.
43:21
First of all, it has everything to do with Epstein,
43:24
considering you pass the information on to Epstein. Second of all,
43:28
if you think the investigation is going to end here
43:31
when it comes to the confidential information, you're smoking something.
43:35
Because once this door was opened, once this Pandora's box
43:39
was emptied, there was no going back. I was naive, foolish,
43:45
and gullible to put any trust in Jeffrey Epstein. He
43:48
was a con man, and while I was conned, I
43:50
have done nothing wrong and have nothing to hide, the
43:53
eighty eight year old retired founder of L Brand said
43:56
in a statement to the House Oversight and Reform Committee
43:59
released for his interview. The panel's Democrats had subpoenaed him
44:04
after the latest Justice Department release of Epstein related documents
44:08
revealed new details about Wexner's relationship with the well connected financier.
44:14
Ranking Member. Representative James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, said Wexner
44:19
answered every question asked of him during the six hour procedure.
44:23
A video and transcript are to be released soon. Yo
44:26
Comer hasn't met an Epstein friend that he doesn't like
44:32
anything that Donald Trump, says Comer is willing to do.
44:36
And it's really pathetic to watch. Do these people not
44:40
understand that Donald Trump is going to be out of
44:42
office soon? What then? What are you guys going to do?
44:47
What is going to be the narrative? What's going to
44:49
be the party line? We protect pedophiles, we don't pursue
44:55
disgusting people. Money Laundering's okay? I mean, what's going to
45:00
be the next slogan? Because I promise you there are
45:04
going to be campaign ads littered throughout the election season
45:09
that have the GOP framed as people that were protecting
45:12
Jeffrey Epstein and his friends. Make no mistake about it,
45:15
or maybe they'll use this one. Look, it wasn't pedophilia.
45:18
The girls were fifteen and sixteen. I mean, that's the
45:22
level we're at now with the people trying to defend
45:24
this shit. I mean, there's a whole group of people
45:26
out there that have made it their life's work now
45:30
to try and make Jeffrey Epstein out to be not
45:33
the monster that he really was. The shit is bizarre,
45:36
and honestly, I think a lot of it has to
45:38
do with them being jealous that they missed the story.
45:42
They weren't on the story from the jump, so now
45:45
what they're trying to do is demean it. And it's
45:49
pretty odd that the vast majority of them are people
45:52
that are pro Israel. And as you all know, I'm
45:55
not somebody that sits here and shits on Israel all
45:57
the time. And I don't think that Jeffrey Epstein was
46:00
a Masad spy. But there's no doubt that there is
46:05
a lot of pushback coming from the pro Israel brigade
46:09
who feels like this is damaging to Israel. So they're
46:12
going to do everything in their power to try and
46:14
demean the claims that are coming out about Jeffrey Epstein.
46:17
And of course Wexner is somebody that's very powerful in
46:20
that lobby, so they're going to deny Wexner's role for sure. Oh,
46:24
he had nothing to do with it. This is all
46:25
over blown, YadA, YadA, YadA. Wexner described himself to the
46:30
lawmakers as a philanthropist, community builder, and grandfather who always
46:35
strove to live my life in an ethical manner in
46:38
line with my moral compass. According to the statement, he
46:41
said he was eager to set the record straight about
46:44
his ties with Epstein. Their relation ended bitterly in two
46:47
thousand and seven after the Wexner's discovered he'd been stealing
46:51
from them. They discovered he'd been stealing and didn't do
46:55
shit about it, didn't report him, didn't try and get
46:57
that money back, no clawback nothing. Vstein gave us some back.
47:01
Sure he did. I've always said and I continue to
47:04
say that that was part of the hustle. That was
47:07
the escape patch. If Epstein ever got Enneld, Wexner could
47:11
just say, look, he stole from me. I was a
47:13
victim too, And that's what all these people try to do,
47:16
set themselves up as the victim. Meanwhile, there are literally
47:21
over one thousand women and girls who have been abused.
47:24
But sure you're the victim. As one of Epstein's most
47:27
prominent former friends, Wexner has spent years answering for their
47:31
decades long association, and he sought to use the proceeding
47:35
to dispel what he called outrageous, untrue statements and hurt
47:39
full rumor, innuendo and speculation that have shadowed him. So,
47:43
if what Maria said about him isn't true, why didn't
47:46
Wexner sewer? All these people are so soon happy? Why
47:51
didn't Wexner sewer? Could it be that he doesn't want
47:54
to go to Discovery? Could that have something to do
47:56
with it? I think that's the whole story. Honestly, none
48:00
of these guys want to go to Discovery because they
48:02
know they'll get crushed. Representative Robert Garcia, a California Democrat,
48:10
who sat in on Wednesday's interview, expressed skepticism and comments
48:13
to reporters gathered near the proceeding. Well, yeah, he wasn't
48:17
being honest. I don't even have to see the transcripts
48:20
to know that Wexner was being evasive. There is no
48:24
single person that was more involved in providing Jeffrey Epstein
48:27
with financial support to commit his crimes than Les Wexner.
48:31
He said, that's not untrue. As much as I don't
48:34
like mister Garcia, that is not an untrue statement. Les
48:38
Wexner is at the nexus of all of this when
48:41
we're talking about financials. In response to allegations by prominent
48:46
late Epstein victim Virginia Roberts, who claimed in court documents
48:50
that Wexner was among the men Epstein trafficked her too,
48:53
Wexner testified to utter devotion to his wife of thirty
48:57
three years, Abigail, said he'd never once been unfaithful in
49:01
any way, shape or form. Never. Any suggestion to the
49:05
contrary is absolutely and entirely false. You know, he never
49:09
sued Virginia either, and Virginia said that he was part
49:13
of the abuse. So if somebody said that you were
49:17
abusing them and that you were, you know, part of
49:19
a trafficking ring, wouldn't you sue them? I know I would,
49:23
especially if I had the money that less Wexner has.
49:26
So why didn't he do it? If he was so
49:30
truthful and Virginia is such a liar, why didn't he sewer?
49:35
I'll tell you why, because he's a liar, That's what
49:38
I think. Wexner's name appears more than one thousand times
49:43
in the Epstein files, which does not imply guilt, and
49:46
Wexner has never been charged with any crimes. His spokesperson
49:50
said the number of mentions is not expected or unexpected
49:53
given their long running ties. Well, I agree with that.
49:57
The mentions don't mean you're guilty, but it means that
50:00
you are closer than you let on. And if his
50:02
name was mentioned a thousand times in this dump, how
50:05
many times is it mentioned and the ones they won't release,
50:09
that's the question we should be asking. Epstein first met
50:14
Leslie Wexner through a business associate in nineteen eighty six.
50:17
Oh yeah, I'm sure that's the story. It was an
50:20
opportune time for Wexner's finances. The Ohio business owner had
50:24
grown a single limited store in Columbus into a suite
50:27
of nineteen eighty's mall staples. The Limited Express Lane, Bryant
50:32
and Victoria's Secret Bath and Body Works, Abercrombie and Fitch, Lerner,
50:37
White Barn Candle Company, and Henry Bendel would follow. Wexner
50:43
told ballmakers that it was several years before he turned
50:46
over management of his vast fortune to Epstein, after the
50:50
master of Manipulator connived to gain his trust such absolute
50:55
ps the Grand con man Jeffrey Epstein. The guy was
51:00
a moron. Okay, let's just stop fucking around, go and
51:04
read the emails yourself. The guy was an absolute moron.
51:12
He gave Epstein power of attorney in nineteen ninety one,
51:15
allowing Epstein to make investments, do business deals, purchase property,
51:19
and help Wexner as he developed new Aubeny from a
51:22
small rural city to a thriving, upscale Columbus suburb. Epstein
51:28
had excellent judgment and unusually high standards, Wexner told Vanity
51:32
Fair in a two thousand and three interview, and he
51:34
was always a most loyal friend. Oh, a most loyal friend?
51:38
Is it? That's nice? Jeffrey Epstein, the most loyalist of friends.
51:43
On Wednesday, the billionaire said he didn't circulate in Epstein's
51:47
social circle, but often heard accounts of his encounters with
51:50
other wealthy people. Everybody else was doing it, but not me.
51:54
I didn't do it. Epstein carefully uses a queans with
52:00
important individuals to curate an aura of legitimacy, Wexner said.
52:06
He said he visited Epstein's infamous island only once, stopping
52:10
for a few hours one morning with his wife and
52:12
young children while they were cruising on their boat. So
52:16
you're out on your yacht. I'm sure you have a
52:18
chef of your own, but sure, let's pull into Jeffrey
52:21
Epstein's island, spend one hour there eating and leave. While
52:25
that sounds legit takes longer to dock the boat than
52:29
you spent on the island. Huh, all right, cool. It's
52:35
interesting that mister Wexner has already begun to clarify in
52:38
his mind that somehow he and Epstein weren't even friends.
52:41
Garcia told reporters he should be very clear that the
52:45
two were very close. Per reporting, they spent a lot
52:48
of time together. In one of the newly released documents,
52:52
Epstein sent rough notes to himself about Wexner, saying never
52:56
ever did anything without informing less and would never give
52:59
him up. Another document, an apparent draft letter to Wexner,
53:03
said the two had gang stuff for over fifteen years
53:07
and were mutually indebted to each other, as Wexner helped
53:10
make Epstein rich and Epstein helped make Wexner richer. YO
53:14
financial crimes and abundance. I'm talking about everything from money
53:19
laundering to god knows what. Wexner spokesperson said Wexner never
53:27
received the letter, characterizing it as fitting a pattern of untrue, outlandish,
53:32
and delusional statements made by Epstein in desperate attempts to
53:35
perpetuate his lies and justify his misconduct. Or could it
53:39
be that he was memorializing the situation for himself. She
53:43
never thought anybody else was going to see those emails.
53:48
Wexner told the congressional representatives that Epstein lived a double life,
53:52
presenting himself to his wealthy clients as a financial guru
53:56
with steady girlfriends, while the most carefully and fully hiding
54:00
his misdeeds with underage girls. He knew that I would
54:03
have never tolerated his horrible behavior, not any of it,
54:06
he said. The problem is he wasn't hiding it. He
54:11
had a bunch of young girls around him all the time.
54:13
And here's something nobody else talks about, but I will.
54:16
Jean Luke Brunel was sending Jeffrey Epstein fourteen fifteen, sixteen
54:21
seventeen year old girls from South America on a regular basis.
54:26
Just go and look at the merits of Vasquez deposition.
54:29
She breaks it all down. Now you can dispute what
54:32
she says and say you don't believe her, and I
54:34
guess that's okay. But when you look at the evidence
54:37
and put it together, it's obvious what was happening, so
54:40
Les Wexner should just save it. I don't believe for
54:43
a second that somebody like Les Wexner had no idea
54:47
what was going on. Some accusers that Epstein touted his
54:51
ties to Wexner and claimed he could help get them
54:54
jobs modeling for the Victoria's Secret Catalog. One woman and
54:59
aspiring as and model told the FBI that Epstein said
55:03
he was best friends with longtime Victoria's Secret owner and
55:06
that she'd have to learn to be comfortable in her
55:09
underwear and not be approved. According to a recently released
55:12
grand jury testimony, another woman said she reported Epstein to
55:16
police in ninety seven after he groped her during what
55:20
she thought was a modeling interview for the Victoria's Secret Catalog.
55:25
After Epstein's twenty nineteen arrest, Wexner's lawyers told investigators that
55:29
the businessman had heard a rumor that Epstein might be
55:32
holding himself out as connected to Victoria's Secret. Prosecutors wrote
55:37
a recently disclosed memorandum summarizing the probe. When Wexner asked
55:42
Epstein about it, Epstein denied doing so, the lawyer said,
55:45
according to the memo, Wexner did not address the specific
55:49
issue in his statement Wednesday, but repeatedly lamented being deceived
55:53
by Epstein, an abuser, a crook, and a liar. L
55:58
brand sold off Victoria's secret in twenty twenty and one
56:01
of Wexner's final acts as chair. Wexner did not publicly
56:06
reveal until after Epstein's arrest on federal sex trafficking charges
56:10
in July of twenty nineteen that he had severed their relationship.
56:14
In a Wexner Foundation letter that August, he said that
56:17
happened in two thousand and seven, but the Justice Department's
56:21
newly released records showed the two were in touch after that.
56:25
Oh what do you know, lest Wexner's lying again? Come on,
56:28
these guys are actually lying about their relationship with Epstein.
56:31
Why would they do that? There's nothing to see here.
56:33
It's all just overblown, right, It's a moral panic, fucking goofballs.
56:40
Wexner emailed Epstein on June twenty six, two thousand and eight,
56:44
after a plea deal was announced that would require him
56:47
to serve eighteen months and a Florida jail on a
56:50
stage charge of soliciting prostitution from a minor in order
56:54
to avoid federal prosecution. He wound up serving thirteen months.
57:00
Miguel told me the result. All I can say is
57:02
I feel sorry. You violated your own number one rule,
57:06
Always be careful, Wexner wrote. Epstein replied, no excuse. Nobody
57:11
had any idea. Huh. Epstein had rules that he violated
57:15
that Wexner knew about, but he had no idea what
57:17
Epstein was up to. That's the narrative, folks, and he's
57:21
sticking to it. His spokesman said that the two thousand
57:27
and seven date Wexner cited in twenty nineteen applied to
57:31
firing Epstein as a financial advisor, revoking his power of attorney,
57:35
and removing his name from Wexner's bank accounts. Wexner also
57:40
said in twenty nineteen letter that Epstein had misappropriated vast
57:43
sums of his family's money while overseeing his finances. An
57:48
investigative memo from the latest document release says Wexner's attorneys
57:52
told investigators in two thousand and eight that Epstein had
57:55
to repaid him one hundred million. Wexner said in a
57:59
Wednesday statement that Epstein returned a substantial amount of the
58:03
undisclosed total. I don't believe that. I'm sorry, I don't
58:06
believe it, and if he did, it was all a
58:09
baked in excuse. Garcia said. Congressional investigators have identified more
58:16
than one billion that was either transferred, provided in stocks,
58:19
or given directly to Wexner by Epstein, though Wexner appears
58:23
to be unaware of much of it. I'm an old man.
58:27
I don't remember. What do you want from me? Has
58:30
anybody seen my shoes? In my glasses? On Wednesday, Wexner
58:35
testified he had never seen Epstein with any young girls
58:39
and acknowledged the unfathomable pain he inflicted, even as discoveries
58:44
in the Epstein files have placed new pressure on them.
58:48
One survivor, Maria Farmer, set a redacted FBI report contained
58:52
in the document released vindicated her long standing claim that
58:56
she filed one of the earliest complaints against Epstein while
59:00
she was under his employee in nineteen ninety six working
59:03
on an art project at the Wexner estate. Well, yeah,
59:07
she said that a million times, and it turned out
59:09
to be true. Meanwhile, survivors of sweeping sexual abuse scandal
59:15
at the Ohio State University are citing Wexner's association with
59:19
Epstein to try and get his name removed from a
59:23
campus football complex, and university nurses also on his name
59:27
scrubbed from the Wexner Medical Center. You blame him. Imagine
59:31
walking into work every day with that dude's name pasted
59:34
on the door. No thank you. So look, as far
59:38
as Wexner goes, this was the first step. Get him
59:41
under oath. Let's see what he has to say and
59:43
then start digging from there, and hopefully that's what happens.
59:47
Because if anybody should be answering questions about their relationship
59:51
with Jeffrey Epstein, Les Wexner is most certainly near the
59:56
top of the list. All of the information that goes
1:00:01
with this episode can be found in the description box.