A Republican lawmaker leveled a stunning allegation last week: not only had government documents named a billionaire retail magnate a co-conspirator in Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking case, the Department of Justice had tried to shield the man from accountability.

Rep Thomas Massie chastised the DOJ in a House hearing for redacting various names and details in records released with the Epstein files. “This is bigger than Watergate,” Massie said. “This cover-up spans decades.”

Massie’s comments shined a new spotlight on Les Wexner, the former owner of Victoria’s Secret, who is one of the most mysterious figures in Epstein’s orbit – a key player in helping the financier’s rise to extreme wealth, whose motivations and ties to Epstein have long been a source of speculation.

A CNN review of the DOJ’s massive Epstein file release found that, while Wexner’s name was initially redacted in the “co-conspirator” document, his name appears in hundreds of other records that show federal authorities have closely scrutinised Wexner and repeatedly sought information from him.

That scrutiny has included questions from investigators Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution, including from a minor, in 2008 and again when authorities pursued a new sex-trafficking case against Epstein a decade later. Emails show authorities wanted to understand whether Wexner had knowledge of Epstein paying girls for sex acts, and officials subpoenaed Wexner in 2019 and spoke to his attorneys. Another 2019 FBI document lists Wexner as a “secondary” co-conspirator but notes, “There is limited evidence regarding his involvement.”

Other records in the Epstein files include allegations made to the FBI that Wexner interacted with young women and possibly underage girls in Epstein’s presence. One victim claimed she was trafficked to Wexner – a claim Wexner has denied. Wexner has never been charged with a crime.

Now, members of Congress have another shot at questioning Wexner, who is 88 years old. The retail tycoon is slated to sit for a deposition with the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday in Ohio.

Wexner has for years denied any wrongdoing related to Epstein. He said after Epstein’s death he was “embarrassed” that he ever put his trust in the disgraced financier. A spokesperson told CNN that Wexner cooperated with law enforcement and was told in 2019 he “was neither a co-conspirator nor target in any respect.”

Trump administration officials have vehemently rejected accusations they have sought to cover up any crimes related to Epstein. In September, FBI Director Kash Patel stated there was “no credible information” Epstein had trafficked victims to other men. Testifying to Congress last week, Attorney General Pam Bondi said investigators would “love” to hear more information from any other victims who come forward.

Kash Patel. Photo: Getty via AFP

Still, documents released in the trove of files this year revive long-simmering questions about Wexner’s decades-old dealings with the now-infamous sex offender and offer new insight into what investigators uncovered.

In one undated message, Epstein appeared to hint at secrets shared between the two men.

“You and I had ‘gang stuff’ for over 15 years,” Epstein wrote in a typo-filled letter addressed to “Les”. “I have never once, not once, done anything, but protect your interests. I owe a great debt to you, as frankly you owe to me.” The message added, “I had no intention of divulging any confidence of ours.” The specifics of what the letter referred to – and whether Epstein even sent the message – are unclear.

A Wexner spokesperson said he never received the note. “The draft appears to fit a pattern of outlandish and delusional statements by Epstein, in the newly released documents, made in desperate attempts to perpetuate his lies, proclaim his innocence, and meet with individuals who had ended their relationships with him,” the spokesperson said.

Allegations and questions

Epstein entered Wexner’s orbit in the 1980s when a mutual friend recommended Epstein as a financial adviser. Wexner, who was building the retail empire that made him a billionaire, drafted him to help with investments, according to a federal memo that describes statements from Wexner’s attorneys.

“Based on positive reports from several friends, and on my initial dealings with him, I believed I could trust him,” Wexner later wrote in a letter.

In 1991, Epstein obtained power of attorney from Wexner, which enabled him to buy and sell assets on Wexner’s behalf. “Epstein controlled all of Wexner’s personal finances with virtually no oversight,” according to the memo, which describes how Epstein sold himself a New York home and a private plane that had belonged to Wexner at a “deeply discounted price.”

Epstein also introduced Wexner to some of his high-profile connections, including then-Prince Andrew, a sultan in Dubai and professors at Harvard University, according to the memo.

A photograph appearing to show Prince Andrew with Jeffrey Epstein’s accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre and Ghislaine Maxwell. Photo: Southern District of New York via CNN Newsource

In the mid-2000’s, police in Florida opened an investigation into Epstein after receiving a report from the parent of a 14-year-old girl that Epstein had sexually abused the minor. Around that time, Epstein informed Wexner he was having “legal problems involving an overly aggressive police chief and some sort of massage,” according to the memo.

A handwritten note released by the DOJ shows an investigator spoke to an attorney for Wexner in 2007, who said his client was “advanced in age and has no interaction with his ‘money manager'”. At the time, Wexner was in his late 60s, served as CEO of the company Limited Brands and remained in that position for more than a decade after.

Amid the fallout of that Epstein investigation, Wexner’s wife took over the family’s finances and discovered Epstein had misappropriated funds to the tune of “several hundred million dollars”, according to the federal memo. In 2008, the year Epstein pleaded guilty to state prostitution charges – part of a federal non-prosecution agreement that allowed him to serve only 13 months in prison – Epstein agreed to return US$100 million as part of a settlement to Wexner, who according to the memo, then ended his relationship with the financier.

But Epstein repeatedly talked about Wexner or sought to contact him in the years that followed. In one 2010 message released by the DOJ, Epstein appeared to gripe that someone in Wexner’s office “would not confirm” his email address. Other messages show Epstein associates sending him information about Wexner-related business interests or organisations.

While Wexner may have sought to cut all ties, authorities were still trying to untangle the nature of his long relationship with Epstein.

An FBI interview report related to Epstein in 2011 shows agents were told someone “provided an erotic massage to Leslie Wexner in New York”. The individual’s name is redacted in the publicly released file, but statements in the interview overlap with those made elsewhere by Virginia Giuffre, one of the most prominent Epstein victims.

During a deposition for a civil case in 2016, Giuffre was asked whether Wexner was “one of the powerful business executives” to whom she had been trafficked. “Yes,” she responded.

An FBI memo detailing a tip from a man who said he served as Les Wexner’s bodyguard in 1991 and 1992 and had seen “young girls” at Epstein’s Palm Beach home. Photo: US Justice Department

Wexner has repeatedly denied that allegation. A spokesperson pointed to a court document in which one of Wexner’s attorneys stated, “Mr Wexner was unaware of, and was never a participant in, any of the abhorrent behavior engaged in by Epstein against Epstein’s victims, that Mr Wexner had never met Ms. Giuffre, and that any claims to the contrary were not true.”

Brad Edwards, an attorney for several Epstein accusers, has said he had not seen information showing Wexner was in Epstein’s company at the time of his crimes.

When Epstein was indicted for a second time in 2019, federal prosecutors tried to get their arms around Epstein’s finances – including his dealings with Wexner. Authorities identified him as a key person they wanted to interview and subpoenaed him along with a slew of other Epstein associates, according to documents.

An email shows a federal prosecutor stated investigators were “interested in knowing about his relationship with Epstein and his knowledge and observations of Epstein with young girls”.

That same year, a victim said that Epstein had sexually assaulted her in Wexner’s home in Ohio, according to a court affidavit. Wexner’s attorneys told prosecutors Epstein owned a property about a half mile away and that Wexner’s security team was not aware of any inappropriate incident occurring on the Wexner property.

The FBI fielded other tips about Wexner and Epstein, the files show. In 2019 a man named Richard Adrian called the FBI and said he served as Wexner’s bodyguard in 1991 and 1992. He described Wexner as “best friends with Epstein” and said he’d seen “young girls” at Epstein’s Palm Beach home but “assumed they were family.”

“Adrian was told by another bodyguard to keep to yourself and not ask questions,” the memo said.

“Mr Wexner was never at Epstein’s Palm Beach home in the presence of young girls,” a spokesperson for Wexner said.

As the investigation proceeded, Wexner hired Mary Jo White, a former federal prosecutor, who met prosecutors along with his other attorneys three weeks after Epstein’s arrest. Wexner’s lawyers denied that he had any knowledge of illegal sexual activity. They also explained the financial history between Wexner and Epstein, according to the internal DOJ memo.

“The attorneys emphasized Wexner’s relationship with Epstein was more professional than social,” the memo states.

Portrait of American financier Jeffrey Epstein (left) and real estate developer Donald Trump as they pose together at the Mar-a-Lago estate, Palm Beach, Florida on February 22, 1997. Photo: Getty / Davidoff Studios Photography

Two weeks after that meeting, Epstein was found dead in his jail cell. It was ruled a suicide. Prosecutors then shifted the investigation to focus on the enablers of his sex trafficking.

In mid-August 2019, the FBI %209/EFTA00173201.pdf listed a string of eight “co-conspirators” associated with Epstein in a document. Wexner’s name and photo were included, though the document included no details about why the individuals were labeled that way.

In December of that year, memos from federal prosecutors about the Epstein case described Wexner and his relationship with Epstein. While some names and sections are redacted in versions released by the DOJ, the publicly available memos do not allege that Wexner committed any crimes.

Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend, became the prosecution’s main target. She was arrested the following year and later convicted of sex trafficking minors.

The FBI continued to field tips involving Wexner, the DOJ files show. In 2020, a woman whose name and work history are redacted in a file told the bureau she often saw Epstein and Wexner together. “Wexner would have models who could not have been over 18 years old do private viewings for him and Epstein,” she said. The woman added the models wore swimsuits or lingerie.

Another woman whose identity is redacted in a file told the FBI about sexual activity with Epstein and said, “There was a time where they flew into Aspen and Les Wexner and other girls went shopping.” The woman did not accuse Wexner of wrongdoing.

“We don’t know who made this statement or why, but it is false,” said a spokesperson for Wexner.

This year, after securing subpoenas for Wexner and two others to sit for depositions, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee called the action an “enormous step forward” in the investigation.

“Oversight Democrats know how important it is to follow the money to identify anyone that enabled Epstein’s horrific abuses and illegal activities,” Rep Robert Garcia said in January.

An attorney for Wexner said he would fully cooperate with any government inquiry.

Source: CNN & RNZ