Epstein aide tells House panel he was a master manipulator

Lesley Groff, Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime executive secretary, told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that the disgraced financier was a “master manipulator” and that she did not know about his crimes. Her testimony, delivered in a closed-door, transcribed interview in Washington, put renewed focus on the aides and fixers around Epstein, not just on Epstein himself.

The committee had formally asked Groff to appear on March 3, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. ET, as part of its review of the federal investigations into Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Groff worked for Epstein for nearly two decades, roughly from 2001 to 2019, giving lawmakers a direct line into the daily machinery that supported his life in New York City, Palm Beach, Florida, and elsewhere.

At the center of the scrutiny is whether Groff’s account of her role fits the documentary record. FBI notes from a 2021 interview indicate that Groff said arranging massage appointments for Epstein was just another appointment and amounted to about 1% of her job. Those details have taken on fresh significance as House Oversight Democrats accuse Groff of misrepresenting her relationship with Epstein and minimizing how closely she was tied to his operations.

Lawmakers are also examining whether Groff helped arrange phone calls between Epstein and Donald Trump before the two men fell out. That line of inquiry underscores the committee’s broader effort to map Epstein’s network and determine how much his inner circle knew, or chose not to know, about the abuse that took place around him. The question is no longer only what Epstein did, but how long his aides could plausibly remain in the dark while handling his calendar, contacts, and personal logistics.

The committee’s probe has widened steadily over the past year. On Sept. 2, 2025, it released 33,295 pages of Epstein-related records from the Department of Justice, followed by another 20,000 pages of documents from Epstein’s estate on Nov. 12, 2025. It also released additional Epstein investigation transcripts and interview materials on June 4, 2026. The pressure is building around a case that ended with Epstein’s arrest in 2019 and his death by suicide in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. Ghislaine Maxwell remains the only person convicted in the United States for a crime tied to Epstein, leaving Congress to test how much of the surrounding network can still be held to account.