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Wexner Says He Was 'Conned' By Epstein, Did 'Nothing Wrong'

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by Tyler Durden
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After what must have been quite the prep session with lawyers, billionaire Les Wexner - who gave Jeffrey Epstein "about a billion dollars" in cash and assets - testified to the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday that he was "conned" by Epstein, and denied any wrongdoing.

Les Wexner denied any wrongdoing or knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein's crimes during testimony to House lawmakers.House Oversight and Government Reform Committee

In a prepared statement, the 88-year-old former L Brands (which owned Victoria's Secret) CEO said: 

Let me state from the start: I was naïve, foolish, and gullible to put any trust in Jeffrey Epstein. He was a con man. And while I was conned, I have done nothing wrong and have nothing to hide. 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.

...

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, like many others, I 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.

Yet many aren't buying it - including the FBI in 2019, which listed Wexner as a potential co-conspirator. 

Meanwhile Epstein wrote to Wexner in a draft email: "You and I had ‘gang stuff’ for over 15 years," adding "I owe a great debt to you, as frankly you owe to me" and that he had "no intention of divulging any confidence of ours."

Also strange:

After launching a business relationship in the 1980s, Wexner and Epstein formed 'a financial and personal bond that baffled longtime associates,' according to the New York Times. 

"I think we both possess the skill of seeing patterns," Wexner told Vanity Fair in 2003. "But Jeffrey sees patterns in politics and financial markets, and I see patterns in lifestyle and fashion trends." 

Wexner would go on to open doors for Epstein - who managed "many aspects of his financial life." 

By 1995, Epstein was a director of the Wexner Foundation and Wexner Heritage Foundation and president of Wexner’s N.A. Property Inc., which developed the Ohio town of New Albany, where Wexner lives. Epstein also was involved in Wexner’s superyacht, “Limitless,” attending meetings at the London studios of the firm that designed the vessel. -Bloomberg

Meanwhile, Epstein allegedly ran a 'casting couch' operation for aspiring Victoria's Secret models out of his Manhattan townhome whereby he would promise young girls jobs with the fashion company. 

Epstein "relied on ...[the] modeling business to source underage girls for sex," according to investigative reporter Conchita Sarnoff's new book "Trafficking." 

Model Elisabetta Tai

According to an account by Italian model Elisabetta Tai, Epstein tried to take advantage of the 21-year-old aspiring Victoria's Secret model in 2004 after she was promised that a meeting with a 'very important' man could land her a gig with the apparel company. 

Accuser Holds Wexner Responsible

In late 2019, a woman who says Jeffrey Epstein and his 'madam' Gislaine Maxwell sexually assaulted her holds Victoria's Secret billionaire Leslie Wexner "responsible for what happened to me," because she was staying on a property monitored by Wexner and his wife, and guarded by their security team, according to the Washington Post. 

Maria Farmer, now in her mid-50s, spoke with the Post in a series of interviews, telling the paper that she never met Leslie, and only spoke with Abigail via phone while at the property in New Albany, Ohio. 

In the summer of 1996, Farmer stayed at the country house that Wexner had deeded to Epstein four years earlier. While staying staying there, she was discouraged from going outside by Wexner's security, and that she was forced to jog inside the 10,600 square-foot house. 

"Where I stayed that summer, in that house and working in that garage, all of it was within view of the Wexner house," said Farmer. 

The house, although owned by Epstein at the time, was “effectively the guesthouse” for the main Wexner estate, and it was guarded only by Wexner personnel, according to a security officer involved with Wexner family security at the time, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he did not want to discuss clients publicly. The two homes are a half-mile apart. The grounds were monitored closely by guard dogs and their armed minders, this officer said. It was surrounded by Wexner’s land, according to property records.

“Anybody that was going to be coming on property had to be announced and allowed in by the Wexners,” added the officer. “Nobody had carte blanche to go in and off the property.”

...

Farmer, then 26, had just been invited to create two large-scale paintings for the upcoming film “As Good As It Gets,” starring Jack Nicholson. Epstein offered Farmer an unexpected location to do the work in the summer of 1996: an expansive country home in New Albany, Ohio, located amid 336 acres of land owned by Wexner and guarded in part by sheriff’s deputies employed by the longtime chief executive of Victoria’s Secret and The Limited.

It was there, Farmer said in an affidavit she submitted as part of an Epstein-related lawsuit, that she was molested by Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell. -Washington Post

"They asked me to come into a bedroom with them and then proceeded to sexually assault me against my will," said Farmer in her affidavit. 

In the affidavit, she says she “pleaded with” the security staff but was held against her wishes for 12 hours while waiting for her father to arrive. In the interview, she elaborated.

The morning of the day after the alleged assault, she said, Farmer spoke with Maxwell and Epstein. She told them she wanted to leave and hung up. Soon after, a Wexner security guard appeared at the house. “He said, ‘You aren’t leaving,’ ” Farmer recalled, “ ‘You’re not going anywhere.’ ” -Washington Post

Farmer's mother, father, sister and a friend have all separately stated that they recall a similar account from Maria in 1996. 

As the Post notes, "While Farmer’s allegations against Epstein have been widely documented, her experience in New Albany and the questions it raises about the Wexner family’s relationship with Epstein have been little explored." 

Stay tuned for updates...

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