Leslie Wexner sat for nearly six hours under oath yesterday before the House Oversight Committee. He answered every question. And almost none of it was believable.
Congressman Stephen Lynch said it best: “There’s no deterioration in his mental faculties. So he’s a competent witness. He’s just not telling the truth.”
1. “We weren’t friends.”
The committee entered a handwritten birthday note Wexner sent for Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003. He read it aloud: “I wanted to get you what you want. So, here it is. Happy birthday, your friend Leslie.” And what was “it”? A drawing of a pair of women’s breasts.
Asked if he’d ever drawn breasts for any other business associate: “No.”
Epstein was on his jet, at his yacht launch, at his birthday parties, co-president of his development company, trustee of his foundation, and held unrestricted power of attorney over every asset Wexner owned. That’s not a business associate.
2. “I was conned by a world-class con man.”
Wexner repeated this more than 30 times. But this is a man who built a $10 billion retail empire from a $5,000 loan from his Aunt Ida. He micromanaged 20 divisions. Personally approved every flight on his corporate jet. Reviewed who was on each plane and why.
But the man who controlled every dollar of his personal fortune? Noticed nothing. Not the stealing. Not the trafficking. Not the billion dollars moving through trusts in his name.
You don’t build that empire by being the most gullible man in Ohio.
3. “I didn’t know how much money moved between us.”
Garcia said publicly: approximately $1 billion transferred from Wexner to Epstein. Wexner’s own lawyers told DOJ the theft “appears to account for virtually all of Epstein’s wealth.” When told $1.3 billion in stock moved through trusts: “I don’t know the amounts.” When told $20 million from his charities went to Epstein’s charity: “Effing shocked.”
A billion dollars. The man who designed his yacht over 10 years didn’t notice.
4. “I sold him the townhouse for $20 million. Fair deal.”
Wexner’s own lawyers told DOJ that Epstein “sold himself both those assets” — the townhouse and the 727 — “at deeply discounted prices” as part of the theft. When confronted: “I never heard that before.” No cash was exchanged. The deed didn’t transfer until the mid-2000s. And the man managing both sides of the deal was Epstein himself.
Lynch pressed: “$20 million and you just take someone’s say-so for it?”
5. “I didn’t know Maria Farmer was on my property.”
Maria Farmer was brought to the guest house on the Wexner compound in 1996. Sexually assaulted by Epstein and Maxwell. Detained — unable to leave — until her family came to get her.
Wexner’s lawyer tried to distance him, calling it an “adjacent property” belonging to Jack Kessler — “half a mile away” with “woods and fields” between the homes.
But if it wasn’t his property, why were Wexner’s security guards and Wexner’s dogs all over it? His guards. His dogs. His compound. But he didn’t know a woman was being held there.
6. “Epstein had no role in my business.”
Epstein was co-president of the New Albany Company. He posed as a Victoria’s Secret model scout. An email to Wexner’s assistant at Limited Brands was entered into evidence — subject line “For Les’s eyes only,” signed off under “gang stuff rules.”
Co-president of nothing, apparently.
7. “The FBI never contacted me.”
Despite his lawyers telling DOJ that Epstein stole hundreds of millions from him. Despite the FBI naming him as a co-conspirator. Despite his name appearing 1,000+ times in the Epstein files. Despite a woman being assaulted on his property.
The FBI never called Wexner. And Wexner never called the FBI. The question isn’t just why he didn’t reach out — it’s why they didn’t.
8. “I didn’t know about the $2.3 million to Ehud Barak.”
FBI report: the Wexner Foundation transferred at least $2.3 million to Israel’s former prime minister. Wexner: “Shocked.” He also didn’t know about $25,000 quarterly payments from his own accounts to Dr. Michael Landon — the OB/GYN who delivered his children. Billed “as we have in prior years.”
Either Epstein was running a shadow government out of Wexner’s checkbook, or Wexner knew exactly where his money was going.
AFTER THE PAYWALL, 4 MORE LIES, AND OUR ANALYSIS
