Lesley Groff told the House Oversight Committee on Tuesday that she never saw anything improper while working for Jeffrey Epstein, denying knowledge of his crimes in a transcribed interview that put one of his longtime aides back at the center of the investigation.
Groff’s testimony matters because she was not a casual bystander. She worked for Epstein for nearly 20 years until his arrest in 2019, handled scheduling and arrangements, and her name appears more than 160,000 times in the Epstein files released by the Justice Department. Lawmakers see that paper trail as one reason she could still help fill in gaps around how Epstein operated and who knew what.
The session began around 10 a.m. ET and lasted nearly 1.5 hours before House Chaplain Margaret Grun Kibben attended part of the interview. Groff told members she was not aware that some of the women she arranged to massage Epstein were minors. Rep. Robert Garcia had said on Monday that she has “a lot of important information,” a view that reflects why the committee brought her in now as it keeps building out its Epstein inquiry.
But the testimony did not settle the biggest questions around her role. Rep. Stephen Lynch said Groff denied that she and Epstein were close, even as he described that account as “highly inconsistent.” Lynch also said women told him they had informed Groff they were under age, a claim that cuts directly against her assertion that she never saw anything improper. Her lawyer, Michael Bachner, said she had no criminal involvement with Epstein and said she is disgusted by his conduct and heartbroken by what his victims endured.
One of those victims, Marina Lacerda, said at a news conference in September 2025 that Groff would call her and tell her she needed to be at the house so often that she dropped out of high school before ninth grade. Groff also said she arranged phone calls between Epstein and Donald Trump, though Lynch said she did not specify what year they happened and said the calls were before Trump became president. Trump has said he cut ties with Epstein in the 2000s and has not been charged or officially accused in court in connection with the Epstein files.
For now, Groff’s testimony gives the committee a clearer picture of her denials but leaves the most important parts of her account unresolved, especially what she knew about the women around Epstein and when her own ties to powerful men were being used.
