Latest / The Vault: The Epstein Files / Lesley Groff and the Administrative Backbone of Epstein’s World (Part 2) (6/1/26)

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Lesley Groff and the Administrative Backbone of Epstein’s World (Part 2) (6/1/26) · 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. In this episode, we're going to pick up
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where we left off, talking about Leslie Groff once again.
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This article was published by the Guardian and the author
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is Sophie Elmhurst. By twenty fifteen, Groff was earning one
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hundred and forty thousand dollars a year and had been
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given several bonuses, the Florida trip and approval to buy
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a new car worth up to forty five thousand dollars.
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She was able to buy, rebuild and decorate a white
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clap board house in the town of New Canaan, Connecticut,
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now estimated to be worth around five million dollars. Yeah,
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she had nothing to do with Epstein though, right. She
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didn't enrich herself from ill gotten gains or anything like that.
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Everything's on the up and up. Right. She made all
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that money on her own, though her emails also revealed
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she and Ike had to take out a large construction
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loan from the bank to do the work. In twenty sixteen,
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she emailed Bike to tell him her salary had gone
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up to one hundred and fifty thousand plus a seventy
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five hundred dollars bonus check not bad, and mentioned a
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loan she was going to take out with Epstein makes
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me happy. So really, what it comes down to is
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she's willing to turn a blind eye because she's benefiting
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so greatly. Now, of course, the problem is proving that legally,
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and the way to do that would have been rico.
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But since they didn't do that, it's going to be rough.
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And that, my friends, has always been part of the
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bigger problem them controlling this story and controlling the blast radius.
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Groff seemed to sense limits to Epstein's generosity. He was
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not a cash cow, or at least the money he
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gave was on his terms. Ahead of a family mini
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break in New York, I suggested she asked Epstein to
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get them tickets for a show. The cost would mean
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nothing to Epstein, but Groff felt she couldn't justify asking
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for five hundred dollars Hamilton seats, and one wondered if
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she could swing Dear Evan Hanson instead. When Groff got
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her raised to one hundred and forty thousand dollars in
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twenty fourteen, Ike, who worked for Tourmaline Partners, a trading firm,
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joked that he could retire. Ah, please don't do that,
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Groff replied. She was well paid, but always aware that
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she lived in a different economic reality to her boss.
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In her FBI interview, Groff recalled seeing an invoice of
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a carpet for his aeroplane that amounted to more than
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she earned in a year. Well, yeah, you're working for
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a guy that has billions. Oh, I know, they'll say
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he only had five hundred million, Yeah, that you could track.
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Do you really think a guy like Jeffrey Epstein didn't
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have any kind of secret backup accounts all over the
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damn world? My opinion, he most certainly did. Graff's emails
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were a full of celebrities and their staff. There was Amanda,
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who assisted the then Duchess of York, Bill Gates, Lauren
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Larry Summers, Julie Woody, Allen's Catherine and Ginny. She had
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to check the timing of a meeting with Naomi Campbell,
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who signed off her emails love and Light. And it
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was Groff's job to figure out which car the Duke
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should be picked up in and what Woody, Allen and
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sun Ye would like for dinner. Woodie, you would like
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chicken dumplings. With cilantro pury Pieri chicken wings. I would
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love grilled asparagus, gome whatever the fuck that is, egg
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planch a, shesto miso, honey and shrimp tempora and seasoned vegetables,
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confirmed sun Ye, whose emails from her phone were accompanied
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by the red balloon emoji, given each an error of
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minor celebration, and it kind of gives you an inside
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look right at just how connected Epstein was, and all
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these people that previously told us that they didn't know
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them intimately have been outed by the emails. Privy to
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so much detail, The terms of Groff's job were strict.
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She told the FBI that when she was hired by
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Epstein she had to sign a non disclosure agreement. If
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she ever spoke about anything she learned from people he
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had work with, she would have to pay one hundred
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thousand dollars. Early on, Maxwell had told her she was
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here to work, not to chat or fratnize with anyone
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she met through her job, including Epstein. If, for example,
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she bought tickets for Epstein to see a movie, she
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knew not to ask him if he enjoyed the movie
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the next day. Yo, I can never work for somebody
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like that. I'm sorry, the money is not enough. Imagine
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having a boss where you can't even ask him if
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he enjoyed his movie fucking absurd. Groff was expected to
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maintain the facade that she knew nothing to no one.
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In her first month on the job, she told the
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FBI she was invited to a party through work and
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went along with her husband, disobeying the non fratnizing rule.
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Epstein found out and torched her The following Monday, he
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told her he was going to fire her put her
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on a probation. Groff never did anything like it again.
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Mistakes she learned were not tolerated. And look, I understand
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that people have bills, they have responsibilities, families, kids, the
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whole thing. But at what point do you say enough
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is enough? And at what point do you realize that
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the person you're working for is an absolute piece of shit?
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Not once Groff told the FBI did she have normal
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conversations with Epstein. Instead, he would issue one line decisions yes, no,
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pay it burgers, and Graff would reply with a quick,
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chirpy confirmation will do. Epstein knew that he could rely
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on her to do anything fast and well. When an
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employee offered a litany of excuses as to why they'd
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fail to ship a painting from Paris to New York.
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Epstein replied with a single line, give the job to Leslie. Thanks.
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When Leslie when on holiday, she reassured Epstein that she
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would have her BlackBerry with her. Well, that's pretty common, honestly.
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When I was in the corporate rat race, when I
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got a vacation, which was very rare, I had three
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phones with me. I had two work phones, and then
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I had my personal cell phone, and I hated every
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minute of it. And now that I'm not behold into
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that stupid ass phone, I very rarely ever answer it.
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So I understand that part of it. I hated it
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so much. It was like attached to me. And if
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you didn't answer a call or you missed a call,
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forget it. He replied by instructing her where she needed
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to be on the date of her return, seventy first
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on the twentieth, meaning his house. Groth, of course, I
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can't wait. Over time, I began to recognize the tone
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of Graff's emails to Epstein. There reminded me of the
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kinds of messages I sent in my first jobs at
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the lowest level of institutions, where I still naively thought
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the good behavior would be noticed and rewarded. It's the
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tone of service, of knowing your place and being eager
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to please, often used by junior women to senior men.
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It's also the tone of a perfectionist, of someone trying
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to create an impression of flawlessness, where everything is possible
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and nothing is too much. You'll do all that is
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asked of you and more, running as consistently and indefeatingly
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as a machine, and crucially, you will never say no. Well, yeah,
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that's pretty much the job, right. I mean, I don't
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understand what he means. If you're a junior manager of
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any sort, you're gonna be jumping through hoops. And I
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think the most thankless job in the whole entire world
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is middle management. You get all the blame, all the responsibility,
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half the pay, and all the stress. The colleague who
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failed to ship the painting can fight it in Groff
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about Epstein. It's been tough with him, I'll bet, replied
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Groff sympathetically. In twenty fourteen, Groff exchanged emails with a
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colleague who had just been on the receiving end of
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an Epstein email, which was worse than ever swearing and
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telling me I'm a disgrace. He literally has never been
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this bad, which is saying a lot. Groff tried to
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offer some support, then suggest that the person take the
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bull by the horns and go. They were grateful for
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her encouragement. It really helps. Groff, for some reason, never
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followed her own advice. For some reason, how about financial reasons?
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That's why she didn't follow her own advice. The last
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thing she wanted to do was lose out on that money.
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We all know people who do some wild shit for
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some dough sell crack to their family. Whatever money makes
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people do all kinds of wild shit. Graff's emails inviting
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girls her word to see Epstein all followed a particular pattern. Often,
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the arrangement involved a negotiation around the timing of their
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job or classes in college. Tuesday, I'm at school till ten.
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We have orchestra rehearsal for a concert on Friday. Groff
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would also receive emails from intermediaries on behalf of other girls.
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She can skip some classes and leave school at one
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pm if Jeffrey wants her at three thirty she can
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make it. Groff replied, okay, all good to know. I'll
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let Jae decide. Thanks. This is where Groff has a problem.
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These kids, these people, some of them were kids, were
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being managed by Grof. She was the one that was
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setting up the meetings. She's the one that's emailing them
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and leading them directly into the belly of the beast. That,
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my friends, is being part of the criminal enterprise. And
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you can say you didn't know, but being ignorant of
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a crime doesn't mean that you're innocent of it. Sometimes
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Groff struggled to find someone Epstein had requested. Jeffrey thinks
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I should have her info, but I can't find any
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Whose friend is she? Do you know? Sometimes she would
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try to predict her boss's requirements. What does JE want
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to see in Paris? Is that redacted? Do one of
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you know? Her colleagues replied, I think possible. Redacted? We
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always see her in Paris. Once, she spent a day
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emailing back and forth with someone in Russia trying to
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fix a time for her to see Epstein, before realizing
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that he had meant a different person with the same name.
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So no worries, talk to you next week. And here's
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a big problem for Groff. If the girls were coming
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from overseas, Groff organized their air travel, visas and accommodation.
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That makes her part of it. Smack dab in the middle.
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Juliette Bryant told me a survivor who had met Epstein
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in South Africa and then spent two years in New
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York after Ebstein had promised her a modeling career. Epstein
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would never contact Brian directly, but Groff would ring often
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say Hi, Juliette, it's Leslie, then put Epstein on the line.
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She seemed friendly, said Bryant, but they never spoke much
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more than the top of the tail of a call.
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She only met Groff once. Surely, Brian thought, Groff must
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have been aware that something wasn't right. If I'd been
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working in that office, I'd have found it odd, she said,
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with all the young girls coming and going, look one
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hundred percent. And I agree with Juliette, But how do
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we prove that. Remember, it's not what we know, it's
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what we can prove. And I think a lot of
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people have forgotten that. So the only way to get
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to the bottom of it, the only way to prove
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it is to charge all of these people with RICO.
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Then that gives the government the tools they need to
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really dig into their lives. But unfortunately that's not going
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to happen. The rotating cast of girls generated another layer
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of administration. Groff returned their lost property. Please check for
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a green bikini kind of jungle print in one of
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the drawers. The girl who was their last thinks she
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left it in the drawer. She arranged their payments in cash,
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usually between five hundred and one thousand one, specifically for
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time spent on the island. She would arrange appointments for
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them at his preferred New York dentist, Thomas Magnanni and
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hair salon Frederick Focai, and sometime for herself. In twenty eighteen,
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Groff had a haircut, highlights, manicure an eyebrow wax worth
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eight hundred and twenty five dollars. And if you're wondering
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why she didn't want to leave that Epstein there it
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is who wants to give up those perks eight hundred
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and twenty five bucks. I mean, come on, it's like rent. Once,
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when Epstein's accountants questioned the payment to a cosmetic vein specialist,
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and suggested a name of who the treatment should have
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been for. Groff responded, gosh, I really don't know. She
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seems too young for that. Well that's damning, but sure
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Groff had no idea, Leslie Groff just you know, somebody
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at work doing her job, no idea the evil she's
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working with and for. Does anyone really believe that Groff
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was not the only assistant to arrange these appointments. Rinna oh, An,
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Epstein's survivor, told me that different secretaries communicated with certain girls,
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but they always followed the same script. Mister Epstein would
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like to make an appointment to see you. He's going
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to be in New York on such and such dates.
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Are you available to see him at two pm? Then
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I would have to confirm, and then she would write
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it in the count. Graff's emails to girls on Epstein's
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behalf were typically formal and careful in their language and
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brightened tone, but the reply she received could be unpredictable.
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On May fifth, twenty fourteen, an email arrived from a
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girl who told her that her friend would not be
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available to see Jeffrey on maya, but I can bring
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another girl if Jeffrey want to let me know. Groff
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sent the email to Epstein below from reordacted. Please advise
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literally setting it up, literally culpable, at least in my opinion.
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And I think the evidence is right here the emails,
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that paper trail of emails that lead directly back to
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Leslie Groff setting up these girls with Jeffrey Epstein. That's
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a big problem, or should be if we had a
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real investigation. Sometimes the emails came with photographs attached. On
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April eighth, twenty twelve, someone emailed apologizing for a delay
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and send pictures of two friends, both Russians. No worries, thanks,
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replied Groff. On May first, twenty twelve, a person email
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to check of Groff had received a new photo. Groff hadn't,
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so they sent it again with the subject line redacted
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from Ukraine Darling. Here's the picture of a new girl.
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She's twenty one, very sweet and lovely. Let me know
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you receive them please. I took them from her portfolio,
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so maybe the quality is not so good, but I
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think you can still see everything. Groff sent the email
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to Epstein without comment. And look, people will say she
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was of age. That's true, but does that mean she
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couldn't be trafficked. I think people need to understand that
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even if you're an adult, you can be manipulated and trafficked. Now,
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it's a lot harder to prove without a doubt, but
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to act like it can't happen or it doesn't happen
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is completely ridiculous. Groff also fielded the girl's questions and concerns.
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After arranging an appointment with a girl and her friend
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to see Epstein on the evening of the twenty first
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of October twenty eleven, she received the following email from
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the girl at three forty five pm that day. Hey, Leslie,
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my friend just got back and I spoke to her
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about tonight. She has never done anything of this sort before.
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Ends a little nervous about the whole thing. I don't
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know what Jeffrey has planned for tonight, but is it
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okay if they just met this time? She would really
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feel more comfortable that way. If Jeffrey would rather not,
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it's okay, let me know, Groff responded. He says, of course,
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you can just stop by. So what exactly did Leslie
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Groff think was going down? Did she think they were
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coming over to talk about the stock market? Or get
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advice on their tax planning like Leon Black, because I
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have to tell you, the optics here are not good.
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And when it comes to Leslie Groff and her narrative
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of not knowing, I find that harder to believe by
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the day, because when you look at the emails, and
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you look at all of the evidence that has been produced,
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and what everybody has said about who's invited them to
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Ebstein's house, who managed it, in my opinion, I don't know,
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is not good enough. And hopefully when Leslie Groff is
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speaking in front of Congress, they drill down a little
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bit and try to get to the bottom of it.
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All right, folks, we're gonna wrap up this episode right here,
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and in the next episode we're gonna pick up where
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we left off. All the information that goes with this
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episode can be found in the description box.