Longtime Epstein assistant says she never knew of crimes

Lesley Groff, Jeffrey Epstein's longtime executive assistant, on Tuesday told the House Oversight Committee she was unaware of his crimes and described him as a "master manipulator" who concealed his abuse from those around him, CNN reported citing sources.

Groff said she believed the massage appointments she arranged with young women and girls were for legitimate massage therapists.

In her opening statement, she 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," she added.

Groff told lawmakers the massage bookings involved brief phone calls and insisted no one told her the women were minors or abuse victims. She said she would not have stayed silent had she known.

Groff testified that Epstein never abused her and said both Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell discouraged her from associating with their friends or colleagues. Since Epstein's arrest, she said she has faced social isolation, death threats, and harassment of her family.

Addressing survivors, Groff said her "heart breaks for these women" and that she believes them. "Words cannot express how badly I feel that I was employed by Mr. Epstein during the time he abused these women. I will live with this horrible feeling for the rest of my life."

However, survivors and some lawmakers challenged her claim of ignorance. Survivor Sharlene Rochard said Groff's account did not match her experience, while Rep. Stephen Lynch questioned how Groff could have remained unaware after working for Epstein for 18 years.

Groff claimed Epstein convinced her he had been "blackmailed and set up" after becoming a registered sex offender. House Oversight Chair James Comer described her testimony as "very forthcoming" but noted some statements differed from victims' accounts.

Lynch noted that Groff arranged "multiple phone calls" between Donald Trump and Epstein before Trump was president, but did not specify when. Groff said she did not know of any employees of Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort going to Epstein's residence.

Groff, who worked for Epstein from 2001, managed his schedule, travel, and communications. Victims identified her as a key contact for arranging massages that Epstein allegedly used to facilitate abuse.

Although she was once listed as a potential co-conspirator in Epstein's 2008 non-prosecution agreement, her attorneys said in 2021 that she would not face charges and had "never witnessed anything improper or illegal."