A figure long kept in the background of Jeffrey Epstein's operations has now been brought before Congress. The convicted sex offender's longtime personal assistant appeared on Capitol Hill to take part in a closed-door interview with the House Oversight Committee, which is investigating Epstein. Her testimony marks another step in lawmakers' efforts to understand how Epstein's world functioned.
The assistant has been identified as Lesley Groff, and her role was far from peripheral. She served as Epstein's executive assistant for 18 years, a span of nearly two decades at the center of his affairs. So central was she to his life that Epstein reportedly called her an extension of his brain.
The scale of her involvement is reflected in the records tied to Epstein. A search for her name in the Epstein files returns more than 150,000 results, a figure that underscores how often she surfaced across the documentation of his activities. That volume helps explain why investigators wanted to hear directly from her.
Her day-to-day work placed her at the hub of Epstein's connections. Groff scheduled his frequent encounters with celebrities, scientists and politicians, managing the access that defined his social and professional orbit. She also booked travel for women, a detail that has drawn particular scrutiny given the nature of the case against Epstein.
That last responsibility is at the heart of the most serious allegations involving her. According to federal prosecutors, numerous Epstein victims said Groff was responsible for scheduling massages during which they were sexually abused. Those accounts place her administrative work directly alongside the abuse that prosecutors have described.
For her part, Groff has rejected any suggestion that she was complicit. She has denied any knowledge of Epstein's crimes or any participation in them. Her appearance before the committee gives lawmakers a chance to press her on that denial and on what she witnessed during her long tenure.
Her testimony comes as the House Oversight Committee continues to dig into the Epstein case and the network of people who enabled his life. As someone who handled so much of his scheduling and logistics, Groff is viewed as a potentially significant witness, and her closed-door interview adds to the growing record lawmakers are assembling.