The billionaire behind Victoria’s Secret and PINK told House investigators Wednesday that he was “duped” by “con man” Jeffrey Epstein and knew nothing of his sex trafficking crimes involving underage girls.
Former L Brands CEO Les Wexner also told lawmakers investigating Epstein’s sex trafficking ring that he did not consider President Trump and Epstein to have ever been friends.
House lawmakers questioned Mr. Wexner at his home in New Albany, Ohio, about his decades-long relationship with Epstein, who served as his financial adviser for years as he built a profitable retail portfolio that included Victoria’s Secret, PINK, Abercrombie & Fitch and Bath & Body Works.
“I was naive, 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,” Mr. Wexner, 88, told House lawmakers, according to a written statement.
Mr. Wexner’s association with Epstein and other information led the FBI in 2019 to, at one point, name him as an unindicted co-conspirator during the federal government’s investigation into Epstein’s sex crimes.
He was subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury in July 2019 as the federal government built its sex trafficking case against Epstein.
Mr. Wexner’s spokesman, Thomas J. Davies, told The Washington Times that Mr. Wexner was informed he is not a co-conspirator.
“The assistant U.S. attorney told Mr. Wexner’s legal counsel in 2019 that Mr. Wexner was neither a co-conspirator nor a target in any respect. Mr. Wexner cooperated fully by providing background information on Epstein and was never contacted again,” Mr. Davies said.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which is investigating the extent of Epstein’s abuse of underage girls, subpoenaed Mr. Wexner to find out more about his relationship with Epstein.
House investigators traveled to New Albany to take a deposition rather than requiring Mr. Wexner to travel to Capitol Hill, as has been the requirement for other witnesses.
Later this month, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will provide depositions on Capitol Hill about their relationship with Epstein, who was a political donor to the Clintons and a onetime friend of the former president.
Mr. Wexner and Epstein were once close associates.
Mr. Wexner met Epstein in Florida in the 1980s and hired him to manage his personal finances, awarding him power of attorney. The two men parted ways in 2007 after Epstein was charged in Florida with sex crimes that led to his guilty plea of soliciting prostitution from an underage girl.
Mr. Wexner told House investigators Wednesday that he knew nothing about the crimes Epstein was committing while serving as his financial adviser. When Mr. Wexner severed ties with Epstein, he discovered that Epstein had stolen “vast sums” of money from the Wexner family.
His wife, Abigail Wexner, now handles the family’s finances.
“What is so clear only now is that Epstein lived a double life. He was clever, diabolical and a master manipulator. He was meticulous in revealing to me only glimpses into the life in which he was a sophisticated financial guru who consulted with heads of state, high-ranking politicians, royalty, university presidents, professors, CEOs, musicians and other luminaries,” Mr. Wexner told lawmakers.
Mr. Wexner said Epstein’s “other life,” which the Justice Department says involved sex trafficking dozens of underage girls, “he most carefully and fully hid from me.”
House investigators asked Mr. Wexner about Mr. Trump’s relationship with Epstein, according to a person familiar with the deposition. Democrats have accused Mr. Trump of concealing the federal government’s Epstein files to conceal his own wrongdoing.
Mr. Wexner said he met Mr. Trump at Victoria’s Secret fashion shows and never saw Epstein and Mr. Trump together. Mr. Wexner said he never discussed Mr. Trump with Epstein or had any conversation about Mr. Trump. Mr. Wexner told investigators he did not consider Mr. Trump and Epstein to be friends.
Mr. Trump acknowledged his past friendship with Epstein, which he said ended by 2007, before Epstein’s guilty plea and before he became a registered sex offender. In the late 1990s, Mr. Trump appeared at a Victoria’s Secret show and at a Victoria’s Secret party with Epstein.
Mr. Wexner’s name appears in the Epstein files more than 1,000 times and includes salacious claims about the billionaire, among them a claim by a former bodyguard that Mr. Wexner sold his New York City town house to Epstein for $20. It was actually $20 million, Mr. Wexner said, the appraised price of the home.
Other claims include statements by some of the sex trafficking victims that Mr. Wexner participated in the crimes. Virginia Giuffre, who was among the most vocal of Epstein’s victims until her 2025 suicide, claimed Epstein trafficked her to Mr. Wexner.
Mr. Wexner denied it and has never been charged with a crime.
“To be clear, never once in 36 years have I been unfaithful to Abigail in any way, shape or form. Never. Any suggestion to the contrary is absolutely and entirely false,” Mr. Wexner said.
Democrats said Wednesday that the White House continues to cover up Epstein’s crimes to protect wealthy and powerful individuals, including the president.
They said millions of pages of files have not been released, even though the Justice Department said it has released all the files required by law.
A group of House Democrats who spoke to reporters in Ohio said the evidence and money led to Mr. Wexner, and they had a hard time believing his testimony. They believe he funded Epstein’s crimes.
“In a very real way, Les Wexner gave Epstein credibility. He gave him the ability to commit the crimes that he did,” said Rep. Stephen Lynch, Massachusetts Democrat. “The more this deposition goes on, the less Les Wexner knows about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Les Wexner knew about this and failed to stop it.”
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
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