Transcription
Committee heard testimony from a witness who connected Donald Trump to Jeffrey Epstein, literally. Has President Trump come up at all? His name has come up, yeah. Did she talk about scheduling meetings between, basically arranging phone calls, I believe was the most of it. Just contact between, you know, just arranging phone calls between Trump and Mr. Epstein, yes. Did she get the timeline on when they were talking? I believe she referred to a time before Mr. Trump was president that she did arrange for multiple phone calls between the two of them.
Today's witness, Leslie Groff worked for Jeffrey Epstein for 18 years beginning in 2001, a year after Leslie Groff started connecting phone calls between Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump. Donald Trump told New York Magazine, "I've known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy. He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do. And many of them are on the younger side."
In her written opening statement that she released publicly, Leslie Groff said, "I want to say without any doubt that I have come to believe the man who employed me from February of 2001 through July of 2019 was a monster. For 18 years, I worked for Dr. Jekyll, but was never permitted to see the true Mr. Hyde. Mr. Epstein was, in hindsight, a master manipulator and deceiver who separated his legitimate life from his secret life as an abuser and made sure that as his secretary, those two worlds did not collide. He had every reason not to tell me about his crimes. He had no leverage on me."
Boston Congressman Stephen Lynch, who was in the room TODAY SAID THIS, "IT IS HIGHLY INCONSISTENT WHAT SHE'S MAINTAINING THAT SHE REALLY DIDN'T KNOW JEFFREY EPSTEIN EVEN THOUGH SHE WORKED FOR HIM FOR 18 years. Um, as well, she seemed to be very vague in her description about, um, what Mr. Epstein was charged with when she went to work for him. Shortly after she went to work for him. You know, he was a registered sex offender and she arranged young women for massages with a registered sex offender and I just question whether whether she can rightfully and truthfully maintain that she saw nothing improper in that he was a registered sex offender and had to report he had restrictions on his travel who we had contact with and he had to report his whereabouts to the court at a time when she was arranging massages for by those young women. And that does not sit well with her testimony."
And Congressman Lynch added more about the schedule. And Congressman Lynch added more about the scheduling of those massagers. There's a point of contention on that. There are young women who say she knew and that they told her that she was underage, and then she maintained that she was not fully aware of that, however, there's been some litigation around that point. I won't, you know, I can't speak to that, but certainly there have been allegations that that Just to be clear, she's testified today that she knew she was looking misogynist for... She said she would get a slip, you know, with a number and a name from Mr. Epstein and she would arrange the massages.
Joining us now is Democratic Congressman James Walkinshaw of Virginia. He's a member of the House Oversight Committee and the House Homeland Security Committee. Congressman, thank you very much for joining us tonight. There seems to be a real credibility issue with this witness claiming not to be aware of the dark side of Jeffrey Epstein's life.
"Yeah, look, I honestly don't know how any reasonable person could believe what she was saying today. She's his assistant for 18 years before and after he pleads guilty to a sex crime with a minor. She arranges massage after massage, after massage, all performed by young women, by the way. And the idea that she had no HE HAS NO KNOWLEDGE OF THE ABUSE AND THE CRIMES THAT HE WAS COMMITTING, I JUST DON'T THINK IS REMOTELY credible."
Was she saying that she actually never saw any of these teenage girls? She did assert that most of those performing the MASSAGES SHE DID NOT MEET IN PERSON. WE DO KNOW FROM THE FILES THAT SHE RECEIVED PICTURES OF MANY OF THEM VIA E-MAIL AS THEY were being evaluated by Mr. Epstein, so she certainly did see some of them.
Now, this is one of those interviews that they're being called interviews because apparently the witness was not put under oath. What is the point of that? That's right. It's a transcribed interview. So while it's a crime to lie to Congress under any circumstance, she SHE WASN'T SWORN IN BEFORE THE INTERVIEW TOOK PLACE AND I THINK MOST IMPORTANTLY FROM MY PERSPECTIVE, FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF DEMOCRATS ON THE COMMITTEE, IT WAS BEHIND CLOSED DOORS AND THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WEREN'T ABLE TO SEE IT WHICH HAS BEEN A PROBLEM THROUGHOUT THIS INVESTIGATION, I THINK FURTHER ERODES THE TRUST THAT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE HAVE IN THIS REPUBLICAN-LED INVESTIGATION.
CRIMISMAN JAMES WALKINCHAUGH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR JOINING US TONIGHT. THANK YOU, LAWRENCE.