Les Wexner congressional deposition underway

A congressional deposition of Leslie Wexner, one of Jeffrey Epstein’s closest known associates and top benefactors, kicked off behind closed doors in Ohio on Wednesday.

The deposition of the 88-year-old retail billionaire is occurring weeks after the Department of Justice released millions of additional Epstein-related files, which have revealed new links between the notorious sex offender and major figures in business and politics.

Wexner, the retired founder of Victoria’s Secret former parent company L Brands, has faced intense scrutiny for years over his personal and financial relationships with Epstein. The latest document dump raises new questions about the extent of that relationship and how long it lasted, despite Wexner’s claim that it was “completely severed” nearly two decades ago.

“I was naïve, foolish, and gullible to put any trust in Jeffrey Epstein,” Wexner said in a statement submitted to the House Oversight Committee ahead of the deposition.

“He was a con man. And while I was conned, I have done nothing wrong and have nothing to hide,” Wexner said.

He went on to call Epstein a “master manipulator” who “lived a double life,” insisting that any criminal activities were “most carefully and fully hid from me.”

“Again, to be clear, I never saw or heard about Epstein being in the company of a minor girl,” Wexner said.

Decades earlier, Wexner had given Epstein, a high school math teacher turned well-connected money manager, power of attorney over his finances. Wexner had long been Epstein’s only publicly known client.

“The most important information for us is really about the money,” Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the Oversight Committee’s ranking Democrat, said on CNN earlier Wednesday.

“We know that Wexner was Jeffrey Epstein’s single largest benefactor,” Garcia said. “When you think about Epstein’s wealth, whether it was the plane, the island, the amount of money when had, his homes — much of that came directly from Wexner.”

“We’re not exactly sure why. It’s not clear,” he said. “When you talk to survivors, they’ll all share with you that Wexner was at the center of what Epstein was doing.”

Wexner has not been charged with any crime. After Epstein was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges in July 2019 — and died by suicide in jail a month later — Wexner said he was embarrassed to have been “taken advantage of by someone who is … so depraved.”

The Oversight Committee had subpoenaed Wexner and other Epstein associates in January with bipartisan support.

In his prepared statement before Wednesday’s deposition, Wexner maintained that he “completely and irrevocably cut ties with Epstein nearly twenty years ago when I learned that he was an abuser, a crook, and a liar.”

“And, let me be crystal clear: I never witnessed nor had any knowledge of Epstein’s criminal activity. I was never a participant nor coconspirator in any of Epstein’s illegal activities. To my enormous embarrassment and regret I, like many others, was duped by a world-class con man. I cannot undo that part of my personal history even as I regret ever having met him,” Wexner’s statement said.

Wexner said he hired Epstein as a financial manager years after being introduced to him in the 1980s by insurance giant Aon’s former vice chairman Bob Meister. Wexner also said he consulted about Epstein with Ace Greenberg and Jimmy Cayne, of Epstein’s former employer Bear Stearns, and Elie de Rothschild of the Rothschild family banking dynasty, whom Epstein offered as a reference.

Epstein initially refused to take on Wexner as a client, instead offering occasional financial advice for free. “Little did I realize that, from the very start, Epstein was conniving to gain my trust,” Wexner’s statement read.

Wexner eventually succeeded in formally hiring Epstein. “Because my public company and other duties required my full attention, I provided Epstein with a power of attorney so he could execute transactions quickly, without constantly requiring my signature,” according to Wexner.

“The need for a power of attorney was clear to me, and I provided the same scope of authority to Epstein as I did to his successor, Dennis Hersch,” the statement said. “What I did not anticipate was Epstein misusing the trust I placed in him despite his fiduciary obligation to act in my best interest.”

As for the allegations that Epstein ran a widespread sex trafficking operation that exploited girls and young women, Wexner is adamant that he knew nothing about it.

“He knew that I never would have tolerated his horrible behavior. Not any of it. At no time did I ever witness the side of Epstein’s life for which he is now infamous,” Wexner’s statement said.

“To be clear, never once in 36 years have I been unfaithful to Abigail in any way, shape, or form. Never,” he said referring to his wife. “Any suggestion to the contrary is absolutely and entirely false.”

Wexner also said he never traveled on Epstein’s airplane and disputed the “rumor” that he gave Epstein a townhouse in New York. Epstein “purchased it from me for what I was told was the appraised value,” and Wexner never entered the house afterward, according to the statement.

Wexner admitted visiting Epstein’s private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, but said he did so only once, when his wife and young children “stopped for a few hours one morning while we were on a cruise on our boat.”

Wexner said he revoked Epstein’s power of attorney in September 2007, months before Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida to a state charge of soliciting a minor for prostitution.

“In light of his eventual guilty plea and deception of our family, we completely severed our relationship with Epstein. Epstein was permanently and irrevocably out of my life,” Wexner wrote.

The Wexner Foundation told CNBC in a statement, “We hold in our hearts the survivors of Epstein’s horrific crimes and pray for their healing and strength.”