Epstein’s ‘right-hand woman’ tells Congress she did not know of wrongdoing
WASHINGTON, DC: The House Oversight Committee’s high-stakes investigation into the Jeffrey Epstein criminal enterprise reached a dramatic turning point on Tuesday, June 9, during the explosive closed-door testimony of Lesley Groff.
Operating as Epstein’s executive secretary for over 18 years, Groff was once publicly lauded by the deceased financier as a literal extension of his brain.
Her appearance under subpoena has ignited deep institutional skepticism across Capitol Hill.
Investigators are questioning how an insider who managed Epstein's daily operations, scheduled thousands of intimate appointments, and was specifically named as a protected potential co-conspirator in the infamous 2007 federal non-prosecution agreement could truly have known nothing about the rampant sexual abuse.
Executive assistant denies spotting wrongdoing
According to multiple congressional sources familiar with the closed-door proceedings, Groff repeatedly deflected personal accountability by characterizing her former employer as a master manipulator.
She insisted to lawmakers that her daily relationship with Epstein was strictly professional, claiming she remained entirely unaware of the underage trafficking taking place at the properties.
Groff testified that the massage appointments she scheduled at Epstein’s New York mansion were booked under the assumption they were legitimate clinical sessions.
She stated that she never met the individual practitioners in person, claiming they were paid through petty cash or via courier envelopes.
Groff also claimed she did not know she was protected by the 2008 immunity deal, describing the legal designation as a scarlet letter she carries to this day.
Financial records expose hidden bonuses
The secretary's assertions of ignorance stand in sharp contrast to newly unsealed financial records released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
Department of Justice banking ledgers show that Epstein heavily subsidized Groff's loyalty, doubling her starting salary to $120,000, purchasing her a new Mercedes-Benz, and funding a full-time nanny to prevent her from taking maternity leave.
More damagingly, the committee reviewed bank disclosures showing Groff received three separate payments of $100,000 and an additional transfer of $110,000 from Epstein-controlled corporate accounts between 2016 and 2018.
Groff’s legal counsel, Michael Bachner, has continually maintained that these funds carried no criminal connotations.
However, oversight members are aggressively pressing for the precise operational rationale behind these significant, late-stage financial windfalls.
Survivors push back on ignorance claims
The defense has provoked intense fury from prominent survivors who characterize Groff as the primary gatekeeper for the trafficking ring.
Witness Marina Lacerda, whose testimony anchored the 2019 federal indictments, explicitly detailed how Groff repeatedly harassed her with phone calls to attend Epstein's residence, a pattern of coercion that forced Lacerda to drop out of high school before the ninth grade.
FBI investigative accounts further corroborate these statements, noting that victims felt it was completely obvious that the executive secretary knew the appointments were inherently sexual.
In 2021, the Department of Justice informed Groff that she would not face criminal charges. Oversight Chairman James Comer emphasized that the panel will continue to demand full accountability from the remaining members of the criminal network.
