GOP No-Shows: Republicans Skip Wexner Deposition Amid ‘Cover-Up’ Accusations
As Rep. Ansari grills Jeffrey Epstein’s former benefactor alone, she accuses the Trump administration and the GOP of orchestrating a blockade against the truth.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Epstein files have been a second beat for me since partnering up with MeidasTouch in January. If you want to see more stories like this (or not), let me know in the comments.
WASHINGTON — Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ) emerged from a deposition with billionaire Les Wexner in Ohio on Wednesday with a blunt assessment: she doesn’t believe him.
Wexner, the retail mogul widely regarded as Jeffrey Epstein’s most consequential financial backer, sat for questioning as part of the House’s ongoing investigation into Epstein’s network. Ansari, who conducted the deposition, told Migrant Insider she did not find him to be a credible witness.
“He gave Epstein power of attorney and hundreds of millions of dollars,” Ansari said, “and then sat there and told us Epstein was just a financial advisor he met by chance.”
Wexner denied having a personal friendship with Epstein — a claim Ansari called “bizarre” given the established historical record. He also denied knowing Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s most prominent accusers.
Perhaps the most glaring unanswered question involves money that allegedly went missing. When Epstein reportedly stole hundreds of millions from Wexner, no charges were ever filed. Ansari said she believes blackmail is “certainly possible,” pointing to correspondence in which Epstein referenced shared secrets and mutual debts between the two men.
Wexner also claimed ignorance when pressed about tens of thousands of dollars funneled through Epstein to a gynecologist at Ohio State University — a doctor potentially linked to Epstein’s victims. “I just don’t buy it,” Ansari said flatly.
Notably absent from the deposition: every single Republican member of the committee. Not one showed up. Ansari didn’t mince words about what that absence means, saying the GOP has no genuine interest in justice for victims — only in the political theater the investigation can generate. She accused Donald Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi of orchestrating what she called an “egregious cover-up” that reaches from the White House into elite university and financial networks.
Looking ahead, Ansari said the upcoming deposition of Bill Clinton will matter far more than Hillary Clinton’s, which she views as largely performative. The Clintons, she noted, actually requested their depositions be public and televised — a request that was denied. She expects Republicans to show up in full force for that one.
