DOJ files: Epstein aide from New Canaan investigated as co-conspirator
Newly released DOJ files show Lesley Groff, Jeffrey Epstein's New Canaan assistant, was investigated as potential co-conspirator in 2019 sex trafficking case.
Federal investigators considered serving Jeffrey Epstein’s New Canaan-based assistant with a subpoena as a potential co-conspirator three days after the financier’s 2019 arrest on sex trafficking charges, according to newly unredacted Department of Justice documents.
Lesley Groff, who worked as Epstein’s executive assistant for nearly 20 years, was listed alongside convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell and former Victoria’s Secret CEO Leslie Wexner in an Aug. 15, 2019, DOJ file released this week. The document identified 10 alleged co-conspirators investigators planned to subpoena.
Groff’s attorney Michael Bachner said his client was unaware she had been investigated as a co-conspirator.
“Lesley Groff has never seen this document and was unaware of it,” Bachner said. “Neither Lesley nor her counsel were ever notified that she was considered a co-conspirator. After Lesley voluntarily spoke with prosecutors and answered each and every question asked of her, she was told that she was not being prosecuted.”
The DOJ released the previously redacted files this week following pressure from two members of Congress. Groff’s name appears misspelled as “Leslie” in the documents.
Groff managed Epstein’s extensive schedule and travel arrangements from her role coordinating investment opportunities to meetings with Yale University professors. Her name appears more than 130,000 times in released DOJ documents related to the case.
The New Canaan resident has consistently denied any knowledge of or involvement in Epstein’s sex trafficking network, which federal prosecutors exposed after his July 2019 arrest. Epstein died by suicide in his Manhattan jail cell one month later while awaiting trial.
Prosecutors declined to charge Groff in 2021, though the newly released documents show investigators initially viewed her as central to Epstein’s operations. The files list French model scout Jean-Luc Brunel among other alleged co-conspirators, with four additional names remaining redacted.
Groff’s decades-long employment with Epstein placed her at the center of his business and personal affairs, according to court filings. The documents suggest federal investigators believed her administrative role gave her knowledge of activities that could have made her criminally liable.