Lawmakers reveal what Epstein's assistant said in closed-door testimony

[0:00] Let's talk about the Epstein hearing because you just stepped out of that closed-door interview [0:03] with one of Jeffrey Epstein's longtime assistants. The testimony is coming to a close [0:07] right now. According to sources, Leslie Groff, the longtime Epstein assistant, she denied knowing [0:14] about the convicted sex offenders' crimes. She did describe him as a master manipulator. You're [0:19] on the oversight committee leading the investigation. You said that you believe Groff was being [0:24] truthful when she said she did not witness Epstein's sexual behavior with underage girls. [0:29] Yet, Groff apparently didn't see anything wrong with scheduling Epstein's massages with young [0:34] women when he was already a registered sex offender. So can you explain why you think she's being [0:40] honest about knowing of the crimes? Sure. So she did not witness the sexual activity. [0:48] She didn't witness it. That's it. That's the only thing I believe that she said truthfully. [0:53] She tried to deny even knowing Jeffrey Epstein. She said she wouldn't describe that they had a [1:01] relationship at all. So meanwhile, you know, Jake, Leslie Groff's name is in the Epstein file [1:09] more than Epstein's name, isn't it? She's in there 157,916 times, and we're only halfway done [1:16] with the documents. So I do not think her testimony was truthful, except in that one narrow, you [1:23] know, the massage parlors were like on the fourth floor or third floor of Epstein's, you [1:32] know, mansion in New York. And, you know, Groff's office was on the first floor. So I think she's [1:41] probably telling the truth about that. She did not witness anything. However, she did refer these [1:46] young, now this was at a time when, when Epstein is a, a convicted registered sex offender. She is [1:57] still referring young women to give massages, uh, to Jeffrey Epstein. So, so there is complicity there. [2:06] There's, you know, there's, there's aiding and abetting, uh, you know, the, the activities of, [2:12] of Jeffrey Epstein. So I am not giving her a pass at all. Okay. You know, she, she, her much of 90% [2:20] of her testimony was not believable. So tomorrow, the Oversight Committee is going to hear from [2:24] billionaire and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. His ties to Epstein are well documented in the Justice [2:28] Department's Epstein files. What do you want to learn from Gates? So we, we think, look, there's, [2:35] there's a number of, uh, business, uh, connections there. However, there's also a multi-year relationship [2:43] between Gates and, and, uh, Jeffrey Epstein. And I, I know that much as Epstein was trying to play, [2:52] uh, Gates, just like he did Wexner, uh, to, to get investments, there was also something very creepy [2:59] going on there. And, uh, you know, we, we would like to find out to the degree that, that, uh, that [3:05] Bill Gates, you know, knew about that. I know he's apologized to his, his staff, but, um, that [3:12] relationship went on for a long time after, after Jeffrey Epstein was convicted and, and was a [3:19] registered sex offender. It's very difficult to believe what Leslie is saying, unfortunately. I mean, [3:24] we've been asking her very tough questions over the course of many hours. The transcribed interview [3:29] is still ongoing. And while she repeats herself over and over again, I think what is so difficult [3:37] to believe is somebody who was so intimately involved as an executive assistant to somebody [3:42] for 18 years, to your point before and for 10 years after he was first convicted in 2008 and got his [3:52] sweetheart plea deal. That is what is really challenging for me to believe. That's also why [3:59] we believe as oversight Democrats, why it's so important to have these interviews in front of [4:05] the American people under oath as a deposition or a hearing public for the American people, [4:10] instead of these, you know, interviews that are taking place behind closed doors that are not [4:15] videotaped, that are just happening, quite frankly, in a vacuum. We are getting more valuable information [4:21] about other people in Epstein's orbit. But I believe when Democrats are in power, [4:27] we're going to have to bring every single one of these people back under oath to testify again. [4:32] I want to ask you about what she said about associates of Epstein's because she was [4:36] the conduit right between him and his high profile friends. She also booked travel for him and dozens of [4:44] women. What specifics did she offer on who those associates were? Is there evidence that these women [4:51] were trafficked to these friends? According to Leslie, you know, she did anything that Jeffrey [4:58] Epstein directed her to do. She said that he called her every single morning right before 9 a.m. [5:03] with a laundry list of things to do, described it as crazy or chaotic and that, you know, she did as she was [5:10] told. She really, you know, is saying essentially that she was naive, didn't know better, did not think [5:16] anything of it. You know, she was calling and booking predominantly in New York is what she says, [5:21] that she didn't manage most of what happened in Palm Beach or in New Mexico. He also had, you know, [5:28] five or six traveling assistants. So that's people like Sarah Kellan, who of course came before us and [5:34] she herself was a victim and says she was a victim. But Leslie does not have that same story. She says [5:40] she was never abused or assaulted by Epstein, that there was nothing romantic or sexual in nature there [5:47] at all. And yes, she scheduled all of his calls with important high profile people. She was just, [5:54] as I left the room, being asked about setting up calls with Donald Trump before their alleged fallout. [6:00] And she said that she did that about once a quarter before that time period. And did she know anything [6:07] about the tenor of their conversations? Did she reveal any of that? She would reveal nothing about that, [6:15] said she didn't know. I mean, the number of times that the interview will come out as it does in form of [6:20] a transcript, you will see the words. I don't recall. I don't know. No, I wasn't aware. Many, many, [6:28] many, many, many times. Understood. Congressman, you mentioned that 2008 agreement that Epstein [6:34] reached with federal prosecutors, obviously controversial in its own right, but it includes [6:39] a clause that it would not bring any charges against any potential co-conspirators, including [6:45] Leslie Groff. Did she answer questions about that? Why was her name included in this non-prosecution [6:52] agreement? My recollection is that she said she did not know. She was not aware. And Sarah Kellen said [7:01] a very similar thing that she found out about it after the fact. I think there needs to be an [7:06] independent investigation into this non-prosecution agreement from 2008. I think Alex Acosta, when he [7:12] came before the committee, made very clear, at least in my view, it was very clear that he was lying [7:18] and being untruthful. And I think that there are so many questions about that 2008 agreement. [7:25] Why were these people listed as co-conspirators, but then never investigated? Why were federal [7:31] charges not brought forward? Why has nobody else in relation to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell's [7:37] heinous crimes ever been questioned or properly investigated, let alone prosecuted by the Department [7:44] of Justice. I believe this is a massive, massive, massive cover-up that the Trump administration has [7:50] exacerbated. And that is why this investigation is just getting started. Every single one of these [7:55] people needs to come back before the committee under oath. And we need to actually make sure people [8:00] are accountable and people go to jail for the crimes that they committed.