Les Wexner’s long friendship with Jeffrey Epstein will testify behind closed doors before Congress in Ohio on Wednesday, with the billionaire retail mogul expected to face questions about new revelations contained in newly released Justice Department documents related to the late sexual predator.Wexner, the 88-year-old retired founder of L Brands, said he plans to cooperate with subpoenas from Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, the Associated Press reported.
One of Epstein’s most famous former friends, Wexner has spent years answering questions about their decades-long relationship. In court documents, prominent Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre claimed Wexner was one of the people Epstein trafficked her into.Wexner has always denied knowledge of or involvement in the millionaire financier’s crimes and said he had never met Giuffre. In 2019, he told L Brands investors that he was embarrassed that he had been so close to someone “so sick, so cunning, so depraved.”He has never been accused of wrongdoing, and the overall picture provided by the Justice Department documents is that Epstein did not run a sex trafficking ring.Wexner’s name appears more than 1,000 times in Epstein’s files, which his spokesman said was not surprising given their long relationship. The documents shed new light on his relationship with Epstein, which ended painfully and raised many new questions after Wexner and his wife, Abigail, learned he had been stealing from them.Epstein first met Wexner through a business associate around 1986.It’s a favorable time for Wexner’s financial situation. The successful Ohio businessman grew a Limited store in Columbus into a powerhouse suite of staples of 1980s mall culture: The Limited, Limited Express, Lane Bryant and Victoria’s Secret. Abercrombie & Fitch, Lerner, White Barn Candle Co. and others followed.Within a few years, Wexner turned over management of his vast fortune to Epstein. Documents show that he gave power of attorney to his now-trusted associates in 1991, allowing Epstein to make investments, conduct business transactions, purchase property and help develop what would become the vast Wexner estate in rural New Albany, Ohio. Wednesday’s testimony is scheduled to take place there or near it, according to lawmakers involved.Wexner told Vanity Fair in 2003 that Epstein had “excellent judgment and exceptionally high standards” and that he was “always a most loyal friend.”In a newly released document, Epstein wrote a rough note to himself about Wexner, writing: “Never do anything without notifying Rice” and “I will never give up on him.” Another document, apparently a draft letter to Wexner, said the two men “had a ‘gang relationship’ for over 15 years” and owed each other a debt because Wexner helped Epstein become rich and Epstein helped Wexner become even richer.
