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The former boss of the Victoria’s Secret lingerie brand, Les Wexner, has provided a statement to Congress saying “I have done nothing wrong and have nothing to hide,” as he testifies on Wednesday before a congressional committee in relation to his past ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
Wexner is one of several Epstein associates subpoenaed to testify before the House oversight committee in their continued investigation of the late financier’s crimes.
In his statement, provided by his team, Wexner called himself “naïve, foolish, and gullible to put any trust in Jeffrey Epstein”.
“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,” he said.
“To my enormous embarrassment and regret I, like many others, was duped by a world-class con man.”
The fashion magnate hired Epstein in 1991 to manage his money. Wexner has insisted that he cut ties with Epstein in 2007, before Epstein pleaded guilty to Florida state-level prostitution charges in 2008, and claimed that Epstein “misappropriated” $46m of his assets.
The Wall Street Journal reported in 2019 that Wexner was integral to Epstein’s success in finance, with Epstein reportedly earning $200m from the deal.
Wexner is among several people with close ties to Epstein to whom Congress has issued subpoenas. Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for helping traffic teen girls for Epstein, refused to answer questions during her deposition last week.
Maxwell’s attorney, David Oscar Markus, said in a statement that she invoked her right to remain silent because of her ongoing legal fight against her conviction and claimed Maxwell “is prepared to speak fully and honestly if granted clemency by President Trump”.
The oversight committee also subpoenaed Bill and Hillary Clinton. The former president has said publicly that he flew on Epstein’s airplane in the early 2000s for humanitarian work, but insisted he never visited Epstein’s private island.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act, passed by Congress in November of last year, mandated that the justice department release all investigative files into Epstein within 30 days. To date it has released several tranches of documents, and a sprawling 3.5m page release on 30 January, but transparency advocates have insisted that potentially millions of pages remain undisclosed.
