Epstein Survivors: Aide Knows More Than She's Letting On

Jeffrey Epstein's former assistant is being accused of more than just looking the other way. Lesley Groff told the House Oversight Committee in June that she never met the young women who gave Epstein "massages," never knew their ages, never handled their passports, never paid them, and largely stayed out of Epstein's New York townhouse. (PBS News has the transcript.) In interviews with CNN, six women who say they were abused by Epstein dispute those statements: they describe chatting with Groff in a small office off Epstein's foyer, being asked how old they and their friends were, handing over passport information, and collecting envelopes of cash or tuition checks from her, as well as Broadway tickets.

Groff, who worked for Epstein for 18 years and was named as a potential co-conspirator in his 2008 non-prosecution deal but has never been charged, has cast herself as a duped employee, calling Epstein a "master manipulator." During her June 9 testimony, which was not under oath, she admitted booking travel for women she believed were "traveling assistants," but said she had no idea "what they were going through," per ABC News. The House Oversight Committee says it is reviewing her testimony "against the available evidence." The panel's top Democrat argues Groff should have been placed under oath, but notes that "lying to Congress is a crime." Survivors, meanwhile, say the episode underscores their fear that there will be little additional accountability beyond Ghislaine Maxwell's conviction.