Les Wexner, a billionaire businessman and former client of Jeffrey Epstein, said in a statement shared Wednesday with members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee he had no contact with Epstein after the sex offender’s first conviction — nor did he have any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.
“I completely and irrevocably cut ties with Epstein nearly twenty years ago when I learned that he was an abuser, a crook, and a liar,” Wexner, the Ohio-based founder of L Brands, said in the statement obtained by POLITICO. “And, let me be crystal clear: I never witnessed nor had any knowledge of Epstein’s criminal activity.”
Wexner, in compliance with a congressional subpoena, testified behind closed doors in New Albany, Ohio, as part of the Oversight panel’s investigation into Epstein and the Justice Department’s handling of the case.
A longtime Republican donor, Wexner has become a central figure in the fallout over the so-called Epstein files after he was listed in DOJ materials as a potential secondary co-conspirator — though the memo also said there was “limited evidence regarding his involvement,” and he has not been charged in the case.
House Democrats, speaking during the deposition, sought to portray Wexner as a key enabler of Epstein’s crimes.
Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the Oversight panel, said Epstein’s victims had expressed concern about the “enormous amount of money” Wexner transferred to Epstein — potentially over a billion dollars, Garcia claimed.
“There is no single person that was more involved in providing Jeffrey Epstein with the financial support to commit his crimes than Les Wexner,” Garcia told reporters in Ohio. “Mr. Epstein would not be the wealthy man he was without the support of Les Wexner.”
Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) said that throughout the deposition, Wexner claimed to know less and less about his relationship with Epstein.
“There was a deep trust between these two men,” he said. “There was a deep friendship there.”
No Republican lawmakers were present for the deposition, with Committee Chair James Comer unable to attend due to previously scheduled oral surgery, according to a spokesperson.
According to the statement provided to the House panel, Wexner said his formal relationship with Epstein began after Epstein offered to provide financial advice as a personal favor — a gesture Wexner said he has come to believe was a move to gain his trust. Wexner later hired Epstein in an official capacity to oversee his personal finances and gave him power of attorney.
“Over the course of many years, [Epstein] carefully used his acquaintance with important individuals to curate an aura of legitimacy that he then used to expand his network of acquaintances, and apparent credibility, even farther,” said Wexner’s written statement.
As the case against Epstein in the 2000’s ballooned and it became clear that Epstein had been stealing from Wexner’s family, the two men severed ties entirely, Wexner said. Epstein transferred some money back to Wexner’s family but never admitted to wrongdoing, Wexner added.
Wexner also maintained he had never been unfaithful to his wife over more than three decades together.
