Lesley Groff, 59, who worked as Jeffrey Epstein's assistant for about 18 years starting in 2001, told the House Oversight Committee in a closed-door, transcribed interview on June 9, 2026 that she personally arranged multiple phone calls between Epstein and Donald Trump before Trump's presidency. Democratic members relayed her account afterward: Rep. Stephen Lynch said she set up several calls between the two men, and Rep. Melanie Stansbury said “she arranged calls for them to connect,” though she described them as infrequent. When the committee released the transcript on June 23, HuffPost reported that it showed Groff setting up calls between the two men several times a year for at least a decade. She said she did not remember arranging in-person meetings but that it was possible. “I suppose they were friendly,” she said.
The testimony cuts against Trump's insistence that he cut ties with Epstein years before the financier's 2019 death. Trump has never been charged with any misconduct related to Epstein. White House deputy press secretary Abigail Jackson said Trump “has been totally exonerated on anything relating to Epstein.”
In her prepared statement, Groff distanced herself from Epstein's crimes, calling him “a monster” and saying that “for 18 years, I worked for Dr. Jekyll but was never permitted to see the true Mr. Hyde.” Lynch said her position was “highly inconsistent.” (see Trump-Epstein Relationship & Files Controversy, A NYT Investigation Details a White House Situation Room Meltdown Over the Epstein Files, With 'Empty Gesture' Plans to Appease the Base)
On July 9, 2026, six Epstein survivors, four on the record and two anonymously, told CNN that Groff had not told the committee the truth. They say she falsely denied ever meeting any of the girls and young women, denied knowing their ages though she asked detailed questions about new girls, said she never handled their passports though one says Groff helped with her passport application, and denied paying them though they describe receiving cash from her in white envelopes. Marina Lacerda said, “She's lying.” She added, “Just me and my friends, she's met at least three or four of us.” Sharlene Rochard said she met Groff “multiple times in different locations,” and Lara Blume McGee described meeting her at least twice at Epstein's townhouse. Groff was not under oath; it is still a federal crime to knowingly give materially false statements to Congress. A committee spokeswoman said it was reviewing her transcript against the available evidence. The survivors' accusations concern her account of the victims rather than her testimony about Trump, but they bear on how far anything she told Congress can be relied on.
Correction (October 2, 2026): The entry dated the interview June 10 and quoted Rep. Lynch directly; the interview took place June 9, and Lynch's description of the calls was reported as a paraphrase, not a quotation. Lacerda's two sentences, which CNN reported separately, had been joined into one quotation.