The Daily Populous Thursday February 19th, 2026 evening edition
Authored by abc6onyourside.com and submitted by OkayButFoRealz

Lawmakers questioned Columbus billionaire Les Wexner on Wednesday at his home in New Albany about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, who died in federal custody in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges.

Wexner, the founder of L Brands, is mentioned repeatedly in the Epstein files. A spokesperson said after the deposition that Wexner "honestly answered every question put to him today by the Committee," and reiterated that he "has no knowledge of, and did not participate in, Epstein’s illegal conduct."

Rep. Robert Garcia argued Wexner played a central role in financing Epstein. "There is no single person that was more involved in providing Jeffrey Epstein with the financial support to commit his crimes than Les Wexner," Garcia told reporters. He said survivors have raised concerns about the scale of money transfers connected to Wexner and Epstein.

Garcia pointed to what he described as a billion dollars in value moving to Epstein. "To be very clear, we know that approximately over a billion dollars, it looks like—it's about a billion dollars—that was either transferred, provided in stocks, or given directly to Mr. Epstein by Wexner," he said.

Garcia said Wexner claimed he was unaware of how much money moved between them and was trying to minimize how close the two men were over roughly two decades.

“We should be very clear that there would be no Epstein island, there would be no Epstein plane, there would be no money to traffic women and girls, Mr. Epstein would not be the wealthy man he was without the support of Les Wexner,” Garcia said.

Wexner reportedly told the committee he was never on Epstein’s plane and visited Epstein’s island only once during what he described as a family cruise on their boat. Rep. Yassamin Ansari of Arizona said she questioned him about that trip.

“He claimed he was on the island for one hour, and that he walked around with his family. I asked if any other individuals were there and he said no,” Ansari said.

Ahead of the deposition, Wexner—largely out of the public eye in recent years—issued a rare statement calling Epstein a "world-class con man" and saying he cut ties with Epstein nearly 20 years ago.

Wexner said he met Epstein in the “mid-to-late 1980s” and eventually hired him to manage his personal finances at the recommendation of other businessmen. He said he gave Epstein “power of attorney” to manage transactions quickly.

“What is so clear only now is that Epstein lived a double life,” Wexner said, adding, “At no time did I ever witness the side of Epstein’s life for which he is now infamous.”

Wexner said that in 2007, as Epstein was accused of soliciting prostitution in Florida, a review of his finances revealed “Epstein had stolen vast sums from our family.” Wexner said, “Epstein agreed to, and did, return a substantial amount of money.” He added, “In light of his eventual guilty plea and deception of our family, we completely severed our relationship with Epstein.”

Wexner also addressed questions about his travel and contact with Epstein, saying, “I was never on his airplane,” and that he “visited Epstein’s island only once” with his family during a cruise on their boat. He said he never saw or heard about Epstein being in the company of a minor girl.

“I am the father of two girls, now women, and the thought of what he did makes me sick,” Wexner said. He also addressed Epstein’s survivors, saying, “The pain he inflicted upon them is unfathomable to me. My heart goes out to each of them.”

In the Epstein files, a 2019 FBI document alleges Wexner was a co-conspirator. Wexner denied that, saying, “I was never a participant nor co-conspirator in any of Epstein’s illegal activities.”

Wexner’s statement does not directly mention prominent Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre, who claimed Epstein trafficked her to Wexner. Wexner said any suggestion he was ever unfaithful to his wife is “absolutely and entirely false,” and described “enormous embarrassment and regret,” saying he was “duped by a world-class con man.”

Rep. Dave Min of California said he did not find Wexner’s account believable.

“I can basically say that he has basically alleged that he ‘saw no evil, heard no evil,' despite being in the room with Jeffrey Epstein over and over and over. And it's really just not credible. I realize he's an elderly gentleman; memories fade. But the reputation of Jeffrey Epstein is very clear,” Min said.

Accurate-Guava-3337 on February 19th, 2026 at 13:26 UTC »

This guy claims to be a self-made billionaire and didn't notice his "employee" of 20 years was "stealing" from him. Sure.

libginger73 on February 19th, 2026 at 13:22 UTC »

These are the smartest people in the room under every circumstance until they're being held accountable for crimes. Then they are all, "I didn't know what was happening! I just kept giving the guy money because he asked!"

When was the last time any rich person ever gave anyone any money for anything that didn't benefit them?

If a judge believes this shit, they need to be investigated as well.

Imaginary-Ad-7919 on February 19th, 2026 at 13:13 UTC »

Epstein could do a lot with billion dollars. Like buying an island.