Dem
47
GOP
53
On Friday, the House Oversight Committee issued subpoenas to several of Jeffrey Epstein's closest "associates" to come and have a nice chat with the Committee. These included Leslie Wexner, Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn. Democrats fought to get them subpoenaed and ultimately won because if the Republicans refused to interrogate people who were close to Epstein, it might look like a cover-up, which the Democrats could exploit in the midterms.
Wexner, a billionaire, was long Epstein's "benefactor." He is mentioned at least 89 times in the Epstein documents released so far. They had complicated financial dealings the Committee would like to explore. He may not be a reliable witness, though. In a transcript of a 2011 phone interview, Epstein's victim Virginia Giuffre was asked about Wexner. She said: "I think he has relevant information, but I don't think he'll tell you the truth." It could well be that Wexner appears on one or more of those DVDs Epstein made of visitors to his island. That might explain why Wexner was Epstein's "benefactor." Another recently released message was from a reporter to Ghislaine Maxwell, asking her about a claim that Giuffre was forced to have sex with many people, including Wexner. Maxwell forwarded the message to Epstein, who replied: "It is so salcisous [sic] and ridiculous, im [sic] not sure how to respond, the only person she didn't have sex with was Elvis."
Indyke was Epstein's lawyer. Now the lawyer has a lawyer, Daniel Weiner, who is also representing Kahn, Epstein's accountant. Weiner responded to the subpoena by saying: "It is worth emphasizing that not a single woman has ever accused either Mr. Indyke or Mr. Kahn of committing sexual abuse or witnessing sexual abuse, nor claimed at any time that she reported to them any allegation of Mr. Epstein's abuse." This could well be true in that the people accusing his clients are men. Also, it may well be so that they didn't partake in the activities on the island personally, but know a lot about it. In May 2006, Epstein was indicted for procuring a minor for prostitution. He pleaded guilty and received a sweetheart deal in which he was sentenced to 18 months in prison, but was free to go home during the daytime and had only to sleep in prison every night. Indyke was Epstein's lawyer for years and was paid millions for his services. He might know quite a bit about Epstein's many crimes.
Kahn, the accountant, might be able to shed light on the more than 4,000 bank transactions using Epstein's account at J.P. Morgan Chase. The Committee might want to know who was on the other end of the transactions, why were there so many, and what were they for?
It is likely that the witnesses have interesting stories to tell. Will they tell them or plead the Fifth Amendment? Or maybe take the easy route and just lie? (V)