Latest / The Vault: The Epstein Files / Lesley Groff Tells Congress Epstein "Kept Her in the Dark." (6/12/26)

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Lesley Groff Tells Congress Epstein "Kept Her in the Dark." (6/12/26) · The Vault: The Epstein Files

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Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
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Epstein Chronicles. Leslie Groff had her time in front of
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Congress on Tuesday, June ninth, twenty twenty six, and according
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to James Comer, she was very forthcoming and she was
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very informative when it comes to Jeffrey Epstein and his behavior.
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And honestly, at this point, I'm not shocked to hear that.
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I mean, it's basically what we hear every time we
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have a witness come up. Comer sings their praises and
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tells us how great they were, and then of course
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we get the transcript and it tells us something completely different.
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So today we have an article from CNN and we're
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going to talk a little bit more about Leslie Groff
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and her congressional appearance and the headline, longtime Epstein assistant
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paints late sex offender as a master manipulator and denies
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knowing about his crimes. Now, she had no idea, folks.
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She was there every day, all day for what fifteen years,
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sixteen years, whatever it was, and she had no idea. Okay.
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The authors of this article are Annie Grayer and MJ. Lee,
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one of Jeffrey Epstein's longtime assistants told members of the
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House Oversight Committee on Tuesday that she did not know
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about the late convicted sex offenders' crimes, describing him as
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a master manipulator who had every reason to keep them
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a secret from her. According to two sources familiar with
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the testimony, as a way to try to demonstrate her
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ignorance about Epstein's wrongdoing, Leslie Groff, Epstein's former executive assistant,
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said she believed the massage appointments she made for Epstein
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with young women and girls were with massage therapists. The
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sources said, give me a break. Stop. Nobody believes that. Well,
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maybe calmer, but nobody who knows the story believes that.
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What do you think those girls that were in school
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were telling you, Oh, I have a recital where I
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have this, or that I can't make it. They're all
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in college. Is that what you think, especially after the fact,
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when you know that you're a ball us had already
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diddled the kid. Look, I don't believe anything that Leslie
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Groff is saying, just like I don't believe the vast
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majority of things that we heard from Sarah Kellen. All
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of a sudden there's all these concerns from Jeffrey Epstein's
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Corps four were all these concerns previously. I want to
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say without any doubt that I've come to believe that
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the man who employed me from February of two thousand
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and one through July of twenty nineteen was a monster.
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For eighteen years, I worked for doctor Jekyl, but was
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never permitted to see the true mister Hyde. Groff said
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in her opening statement later obtained by CNN, mister Epstein was,
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in hindsight, a master manipulator and deceiver who separated his
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legitimate life from his secret life as an abuser and
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made sure that his secretary those two worlds did not collide.
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You were more than a secretary, a personal assistant to
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somebody like Epstein. They're always around, They're involved in everything. Now,
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she might not have known the extent of the abuse,
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but she knew that something was going on. She knew
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that people were being abused, and if you stayed around
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them after the first time around, then hey, you don't
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have any leg to stand on. Groff is one of
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the most notable members of the late financiers. In her
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orbit to speak to Congress as part of its Epstein investigation,
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a ubiquitous assistant who out manage every aspect of Epstein's life,
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from appointments with women to meetings with powerful individuals, as
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evidenced in the Justice departments millions of Epstein files. As
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part of her opening remarks, she recounted to the investigative
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panel how massage appointments were booked and claimed to have
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never met any of the women involved. That's a lie.
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She never met Virginia. She never met any of the
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women that were coming to the house. I don't believe that.
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And if any of these girls say otherwise, then that
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means that Leslie Groff lied, right, and that would mean
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that she committed perjury. These calls lasted literally a few seconds. Hi,
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this is Leslie calling for mister Epstein. Are you available
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for a massage at four o'clock? Groff told lawmakers none
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of the women or anyone else ever told me that
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they were miners or that they were sexually abused. Nothing
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I heard or saw led me to believe otherwise, she
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would have never remained silent, She said. If she knew
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about Epstein's crimes, well you knew about the first time around,
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So stop Groff told lawmakers during her hour long interview
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that she was not sexually abused by Epstein. One of
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the sources said she said she did not need her
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job with Epstein, and testified that both Epstein and Maxwellow
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told her that she should not associate with their friends
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and colleagues, insisting their business was none of hers. Since
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Epstein's arrest, Groff, who has largely stayed out of the spotlight,
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told lawmakers she's been shunned by friends, received death threats,
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and her family has been harassed again. People shouldn't do that.
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Why is anybody out here harassing people's family. Stop. Don't
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be crazy. Put pressure on the people that can make
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things happen. Put pressure on politicians, put pressure on public officials,
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put pressure on people that actually have their hands on
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the lever. Graf addressed Epstein's survivors in her opening statement,
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testifying that her heart breaks for these women. I believe them.
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Words cannot express how badly I feel that I was
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employed by mister Epstein during the time that he abused
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these women. I will live with this horrible feeling for
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the rest of my life, she told lawmakers of the survivors. Yeah,
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how do you think the survivors feel. If you feel
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that bad, Leslie, how do you think these girls feel?
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But Craft's denial that she had any knowledge of Epstein's
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wrongdoing was immediately met with condemnation from survivors. Charlene Rochard
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expressed skepticism that Graff would not have been away of
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Epstein's crimes. One of the hardest parts for survivors is
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hearing the people who were closest to Epstein claim they
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saw nothing, Rochard told CNN that doesn't match my experience.
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Survivors deserve answers, not claims of ignorance, and it's true
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that's what they deserve. But unfortunately we're not going to
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get that, not from any of these people. They have
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zero desire to ever tell the truth, whether it's the
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Trump administration or Leslie Groff or anybody else that was
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associated with Captain Scumbag. Representative Stephen Lynch, a Democrat on
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the panel, was also skeptical of Groff's efforts to distance
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herself from Epstein, telling reporters it's highly inconsistent that she's
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maintaining that she didn't really know Jeffrey Epstein, even though
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she worked for him for eighteen years. Not just work
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for him personal assistant. We all know how crazy that
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job is, how much you're in the mix. While Groff
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said that she saw nothing with the massages she's scheduled
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for Epstein, Lynch said he questioned whether she can rightfully
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and truthfully maintain that she saw nothing improper in that
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he was a registered sex offender and had to report.
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Lynch added of Epstein, addressing why she did not leave
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her job with Epstein sooner, particularly after he became a
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registered sex offender. Groff claimed in her opening statement that
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Epstein adlied to her and insisted that he had been
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blackmailed and was set up. So you believed them instead
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of those girls they came forward instead of the court.
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That doesn't sit well with me, and I'm not buying
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that excuse. The committee covered a range of topics during
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the interviews that stretched into the late afternoon, as Republicans
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and Democrats traded rounds of questioning. A source familiar with
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the matter told CNN that there was no previously agreed
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upon scolpe for Groff's interview, meaning no questions or topics
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were off limits. I want to help you in any
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way I can, Graff told lawmakers. At the start of
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her appearance, House Oversight Chair James Comer described Groff as
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very forthcoming and compelling in the way she answered questions
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throughout the closed door interview. Oh yeah, just a great witness,
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very helpful and trying to keep us covering this up.
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There are some things that she said that probably aren't
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along the same lines as what some of the victims
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have said, so we're gonna have to review that, Comber,
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a Kentucky Republican, said Tuesday, adding that he hopes to
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hold a public hearing with victims of Epstein's abuse in
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the future. Democrats have sought to tie President Donald Trump
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to Epstein, though Trump is long denied any wrongdoing related
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to Ebstein, as well as any allegations of sexual misconduct. Yeah, well,
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how about the cover up, because from where I'm sitting,
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it's very apparent. Lynch noted that Groff arranged multiple phone
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calls between Trump and Epstein before Trump was president, but
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didn't specify when Groff said she didn't know of any
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employees of Trump's Mar A Lago resort going at Stein's residence.
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The source familiar said Groff began working for Epstein in
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two thousand and one, according to a twenty ten payroll document,
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managing his schedule, booking his travel and personal appointments, and
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acting as a go between with high profile individuals. She
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was listed as a potential co conspirator to Epstein as
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part of the controversial non prosecution agreements struck with federal
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prosecutors in Florida of two thousand and eight. And you
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notice how she didn't try to get rid of that immunity, right,
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you're so innocent, say you don't want to be part
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of the MPa. Multiple victims who spoke with the FBI
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identified Groff as a person they'd first call to reach
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Epstein and schedule a massage for him. They said that
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he perpetuated his sexual abuse while receiving those massages. In
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a twenty twenty one interview with the FBI, Groff said
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booking massages was just another appointment she made for Epstein,
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according to notes from the interview. Email correspondence in the
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Epstein files also revealed the late Fine nancier relied on
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Groff to book domestic and international travel for him and
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scores a women. If it was Rico, it would be
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a big problem, but it's not Rico, so Groff is
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in the clear. Funny how that works. Groff's lawyers announced
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in late twenty twenty one that she would not be
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charged by law enforcement and that she had never witnessed
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anything improper or illegal and remains heartbroken for all the victims.
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In a previous statement to CNN, Groff's lawyer said she
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worked for Epstein as part of a professional staff that
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included in OUs attorneys, accountants, and other staff, and that
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her job included making appointments for Epstein, taking his messages,
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and setting up high level meetings with CEOs, business executives, scientists, politicians, celebrities,
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charitable organizations and universities. Now keep in mind, this is
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what's being reported. We haven't seen the transcripts yet, so
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until we see them, like usual, I suggest you take
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everything you hear with a grand assault and once those
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transcripts are available, will get them added to the catalog.
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All the information in this episode can be found in
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the description box.