(LAGUNA BEACH, Calif.) — A search is underway for a girl who was swept away in the ocean in Southern California, officials said.
The incident unfolded at about 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday near Treasure Island Beach in Laguna Beach, city officials said. The girl was with her mother and a sibling near the shoreline when they were swept into the ocean by powerful water conditions, officials said.
Bystanders ran into the water and were able to rescue the mother and one of her children, but the other child remains missing, officials said.
The Coast Guard, the Laguna Beach Marine Safety Department and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department Harbor Patrol are involved in the search, officials said.
Federal authorities are seen outside an aerospace facility in Garden Grove, California, June 10, 2026. (KABC)
(ORANGE COUNTY, Calif.) — Federal authorities are executing a search warrant at a Southern California facility where fears of a catastrophic explosion over a failing chemical tank led to tens of thousands of people being ordered to evacuate last month, according to federal officials.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said the FBI and Environmental Protection Agency are on site Wednesday executing a federal search warrant signed by a judge as part of a federal investigation into the tank incident at GKN Aerospace that prompted a state of emergency in Orange County.
“Obviously, we want to know exactly what happened and determine whether any federal laws were violated, and that’s the purpose of the search today,” Essayli told reporters at the scene of the facility in Garden Grove, about 30 miles south of Los Angeles.
Essayli said chemists and scientists from the EPA have been brought from across the country to collect evidence as part of the probe, including taking soil samples.
“We’re here to get to the bottom of exactly what happened,” he said, declining to discuss the case further due to the active investigation.
Federal authorities are expected to be at the site for most of Wednesday, Essayli said.
The situation began unfolding on May 21 at GKN Aerospace, a manufacturing company that builds engines and landing gear for both commercial and military aircraft. A chemical tank filled with toxic chemicals was showing signs of overheating, which could cause it to overheat or spill, officials said.
The 34,000-gallon tank contained methyl methacrylate, an industrial chemical used in plastic manufacturing, according to the Orange County Fire Authority. The chemical is primarily a respiratory irritant. Short-term exposure can cause skin and eye irritation, as well as breathing problems, according to the EPA.
During the height of the crisis, when officials thought they faced only two options — an explosion or chemical spill — about 50,000 people in the city of Garden Grove and several surrounding communities were under evacuation orders.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a state of emergency in Orange County in response to the incident.
Following a dayslong effort to cool the contents of the tank and stabilize it, officials determined there was no longer a threat of an explosion, fire or chemical leak and no risk to the public, and all remaining evacuation orders were lifted on May 26.
During a Garden Grove City Council meeting on Tuesday, GKN Aerospace Senior Vice President Steve Carlin apologized for the disruptive and “unsettling” incident.
“On behalf of GKN and the Garden Grove plant, I want to say I’m sorry that this event, this incident occurred,” he said.
He said the company is in the early stages of investigating and reviewing what happened on May 21, “so it’d be too early for us to draw any conclusions one way or the other.”
Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer launched a criminal probe into the incident last month, ordering the company not to destroy or manipulate any records, his office said.
The probe seeks to determine how a major military and commercial aircraft gear manufacturer could have allowed such a toxic failure to occur, according to the district attorney.
GKN previously declined to comment specifically on the district attorney’s investigation.
Clouds pass over the skyline on August 26, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
(CHICAGO) — Chicago police are investigating a disturbing incident in a downtown park where a large cross was set on fire in the middle of the day on Tuesday.
Videos and images of the burning cross in Grant Park, which police say was discovered around 2:30 p.m., went viral, shocking onlookers. The burning cross has historically been a symbol of hate that white supremacists have used to harass and intimidate Black Americans.
Alyna Carlton, 22, who filmed the burning cross while she was in a car with her mother, told WLS Chicago on Tuesday that she could not believe her eyes.
“Seeing that in Chicago, in 2026 … yeah, we were really taken aback,” she said.
The Chicago Fire Department quickly responded and put out the fire, according to investigators. There were no injuries or serious property damage.
The Chicago Police Department said in a statement that it is investigating the incident, but as of Wednesday morning, no arrests have been made.
In this booking photo released by the Toledo Police Department, Ka Nye Taylor is shown. (Toledo Police Department)
(TOLEDO, Ohio) — A manhunt is underway after investigators have identified one of the two suspects believed to have opened fire at an Ohio festival last weekend. Investigators are now asking the public for help identifying a second suspect, as both remain at large.
Twelve people were shot at the Old West End Festival last Saturday, with all of them expected to survive, officials said Tuesday.
One of the shooters has been identified as 20-year-old Ka Nye Taylor. He is described as a 5-foot-11-inch black male with black hair and brown eyes, according to the Toledo Police Department.
Arrest warrants have been issued for Ka Nye Taylor, who is wanted on 11 counts of felony assault in connection with the shooting at the festival, police said.
Investigators have released a photo of the second shooter and are seeking help from the public in identifying him.
Several people of interest were brought in for interviews, and investigators executed several search warrants, but no arrests have been made yet, Toledo Police Chief Michael Trinley said at a press conference Tuesday.
Investigators believe the shooting stemmed from a dispute involving two rival groups, Trinley said.
Two groups were “disrespecting each other and it led into a little bit of a foot chase” before one individual assaulted another person. At that point, one person pulled out a firearm and started shooting. Someone from the rival group then pulled out his firearm and started returning fire,” Trinley said.
Both suspects are believed to be between the ages of 18 and 24, Trinley said.
Some of the victims shot were intentionally targeted, but the majority were innocent bystanders, according to Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz.
Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Ka Nye Taylor or the identity of the second shooter is encouraged to call or text Crime Stoppers at 419-255-1111. Tipsters may remain anonymous.
Police are offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to the suspects’ arrests. The U.S. Marshals Service is also offering an award of up to $5,000.
William “Billy” Schmidt, 22, was shot in the chest at about 1:30 a.m. Saturday in an apparent robbery, according to Philadelphia police.
No arrests have been made, police said on Wednesday.
Billy Schmidt had been watching the NBA Finals game with his friends at a bar and was walking home when he was shot, his father, Bill Schmidt, told Philadelphia ABC station WPVI.
“He was a really good person who cared about everybody,” Bill Schmidt said. “… For him to get shot like that is a travesty.”
The vigil and protest, called “Justice for Billy,” will be held Thursday evening in Philadelphia.
“We are taking our streets back. … we won’t stop until our community is safe,” the flyer said.
The 22-year-old was studying digital journalism and media at Penn State World Campus, according to the university.
“We are heartbroken over the tragic death of William Schmidt, and we share our deepest condolences with his family and friends,” a Penn State spokesperson said in a statement.
ABC News’ Jessica Gorman contributed to this report.
Police are searching for two men suspected of fatally beating a mother-of-four, Keisha Falow, in this alleyway in North Philadelphia, June 7, 2026. (WPVI)
(PHILADELPHIA) — Two suspects are being sought in a horrific homicide in which police allege a mother of four was beaten with bricks and stomped to death during a robbery in North Philadelphia.
The victim, identified as 45-year-old Keisha Furlow, lived near an alley where she was found brutally beaten early Sunday morning, according to the Philadelphia Police Department.
“Investigators also recovered two bloodied bricks on the ground in close proximity to the victim, which are believed to have been used in the assault,” police said in a statement on Wednesday to ABC News.
ABC Philadelphia station WPVI obtained security video that captured the deadly incident. In the grainy video, an individual is seen appearing to throw a woman to the ground in the North Philadelphia alley and then hitting her repeatedly in the head with a brick, kicking her, and stomping her face, WPVI reported.
The suspected attacker and an accomplice fled the scene with Furlow’s purse, which was discovered by officers emptied of its contents a few blocks from where the fatal attack occurred.
Police officers were called to investigate a disturbance in the alley off North Opal Street around 6:15 a.m. on Sunday, according to the police statement.
When police arrived, paramedics were already at the scene and pronounced Furlow dead, according to the statement.
“Upon arriving at the location, officers discovered a female victim lying on the ground in the rear alleyway suffering from severe lacerations to her face,” police said in the statement.
Authorities are asking anyone with knowledge of the case to contact Philadelphia homicide detectives.
Neighbors expressed outrage over Furlow’s death, saying she was a mother of four, including an 11-month-old baby.
“I hope whoever did it, I hope that justice will be brought because she didn’t seem to bother anybody in this community, and I just don’t understand it,” neighbor Alexia Zia told WPVI.
Darnel Henry, another North Philadelphia resident, said Furlow’s death is a reminders that “There are demons out here.”
“She didn’t cause no problems with nobody. She did what she did; that was how she lived. But she was at peace with it,” Henry said told WPVI. “But for her to be dead in that alleyway, nobody should go out like that.”
ABC News’ Jessica Gorman contributed to this report.
Microsoft Co-Founder Bill Gates stops to speak to the media as he arrives to testify at a closed-door interview with the House Oversight Committee on Capitol Hill on June 10, 2026 in Washington, DC.. (Photo by Tom Brenner/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates told the House Oversight Committee probing the government’s investigation of Jeffrey Epstein that Gates “never victimized anyone” and that meeting with Epstein “was a grave error in judgment,” according to his prepared opening remarks.
Gates is facing questions Wednesday about his relationship with the late financier, marking one of the most high-profile interviews conducted by the Oversight Committee since it began probing the government’s handling of its investigations into the notorious sex offender.
“I never witnessed nor had any indication that Epstein was engaged in ongoing criminal conduct. I never went to his island, his ranch, or his Florida home. I have never victimized anyone,” Gates testified in his closed-door appearance, according to a copy of his prepared opening statement.
Gates said that Epstein sought to “foster a personal relationship” with him, but said his focus remained on using Epstein to recruit new donors for Gates’ global health initiative.
“My interactions with Epstein began with a limited number of preliminary meetings — three in 2011 and two in 2012 — during which I talked about the goals of my work,” Gates said, according to his statement. “We began more extensive conversations in 2013 and 2014. The discussions focused on identifying potential giving structures, such as donor-advised funds, and how to enroll individuals he claimed were interested in making significant contributions.”
Gates said he can “recall being aware that Epstein had faced prior legal issues” but added he “did not fully understand the extent of the crimes he committed,” per the statement.
He also told the committee that he Epstein learned “sensitive information about my personal life” — including that he had been unfaithful in his marriage to Melinda Gates.
“These affairs had nothing to do with my interactions with Epstein, but they were painful for my family,” Gates said, according to the statement. “As the public can now see, based on what has been released in the files, Epstein was working to use information about my infidelities — in addition to many lies that he layered on top — to pressure me to re-engage with him. He was unsuccessful in this effort, but it shows some of the ways he tried to leverage his interactions with me to further his agenda.”
In brief remarks to reporters on his way in Wednesday morning, Gates said, “I’ll start with an opening statement in the hearing room. I hope my testimony is helpful to the work, important work of the committee to find justice for the victims.”
Gates’ association with the late financier has roiled his nonprofit and reshaped the public perception of the tech billionaire who was once the world’s richest man.
“I was foolish to spend time with him. I was one of many people who regret ever knowing him,” Gates said in February.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) first reached out to Gates in March to schedule the behind-closed-doors interview, writing in a letter that the tech billionaire might “have information that will assist in its investigation.” In recent weeks, the Committee has conducted similar transcribed interviews with former Attorney General Pam Bondi, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Epstein’s longtime executive secretary Lesley Groff.
“Gates welcomes the opportunity to appear before the Committee,” a spokesperson for Gates said in March. “While he never witnessed or participated in any of Epstein’s illegal conduct, he is looking forward to answering all the committee’s questions to support their important work.”
Gates’ relationship with Epstein faced a new wave of scrutiny earlier this year when the Department of Justice’s release of Epstein files included correspondence between the two men, as well as cryptic notes drafted by Epstein that hinted at Gates’ extramarital affairs.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Gates apologized to the staff of his nonprofit during a town hall in February and acknowledged that he had affairs with two Russian women that Epstein later discovered. A spokesperson for Gates in a 2023 statement said that Epstein “tried unsuccessfully to leverage a past relationship to threaten Mr. Gates.”
“In the town hall, Bill spoke candidly, addressing several questions in detail, and took responsibility for his actions,” a spokesperson for the Gates Foundation told ABC News.
Melinda French Gates — who previously said her 2021 divorce from Bill Gates was driven in part by his association with Epstein — said earlier this year that the documents brought back memories of “some very, very painful times” in their marriage.
“Whatever questions remain there … those questions are for those people, and for even my ex-husband,” she said on NPR’s Wild Card podcast about what she described as a societal “reckoning” over the Epstein files. “They need to answer to those things, not me.”
Members of the Oversight Committee have expressed a desire to learn whether Epstein used his sex trafficking network to lure in wealthy and influential men to blackmail — allegations that the DOJ and FBI said they found “no credible evidence” of last year.
Neither of the women who Gates acknowledged having affairs with — a Russian bridge player and nuclear physicist — were said to have been introduced to Gates by Epstein, though a spokesperson later said that Epstein sought to “leverage” his knowledge of one of his past relationships to “threaten” Gates.
The interview is also likely to touch on how Epstein was able to ingratiate himself with Gates just three years after pleading guilty to charges of soliciting a minor for prostitution. Gates has previously said he was aware of an “18-month thing” that limited Epstein’s travel, and he regrets not further investigating Epstein’s background.
According to documents released earlier this year by the Department of Justice, Gates first met Epstein in 2011.
“I won’t have time to do another meeting and I won’t be able to do the dinner with Jeff Epstein,” Gates wrote in a 2010 email to Boris Nikolic, his former science advisor. “I was looking forward to the dinner.”
Gates later said he hoped he could leverage Epstein’s relationships with “very rich people” to support his global health philanthropic efforts.
“The focus was always: he knew a lot of very rich people, and he was saying he could get them to give money to global health. In retrospect, that was a dead end,” Gates told 9News Australia in February.
According to documents released by the DOJ, both men continued to communicate for at least three years, with Epstein at one point urging Gates to use a specific philanthropic vehicle known as a “donor advised fund” to make charitable contributions. At the time, Epstein compared donor advised funds to “cloud computing for the giving world.”
“It is a good analogy,” Gates wrote in a February 2014 email. “It is clearer to me now than before and it could be a great thing.”
But by December 2014, Gates appeared to cool on Epstein’s proposal, suggesting in an email that the plan was not viable for him.
“In terms of the DAF I don’t think we have any people at this point who will move to do something soon,” Gates wrote. “It is a good idea, but it won’t come together with 4-6 partners anytime soon.”
In a statement earlier this year, the Gates Foundation said it did not move forward with Epstein’s fund and never transferred any funds to the disgraced financier.
“On the basis of Epstein’s claims that he could mobilize significant philanthropic resources for global health and development, a small number of foundation employees interacted with Epstein to try to secure this potential funding. Ultimately, the foundation did not pursue any collaboration with Epstein and no fund was ever created,” a spokesperson for the Gates Foundation said in February.
By March, the Gates Foundation commissioned an external review to assess its past engagement with Epstein as well as its policies for vetting philanthropic partnerships. Foundation officials said in a statement they expected to get an update about that review later this summer.
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner and his wife Amy Gertner wave to supporters as they arrive to Platner’s Primary Election event on June 9, 2026 in Blue Hill, Maine.. (Photo by CJ Gunther/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Closely watched primaries in four states on Tuesday showed a resounding victory for a Democrat who was facing some controversies but amassed much popular support, the continued strength of President Donald Trump’s endorsement, and set up a key governor’s race in November.
Here are some takeaways from Tuesday’s primaries:
Platner triumphant in Maine even amid controversies
Graham Platner, an oyster farmer and military veteran, is slated to take on longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins in November’s general election for the U.S. Senate in Maine, romping to victory in the primary even amid multiple controversies.
That included a late-breaking controversy from a New York Times report last Thursday that some of the Army veteran’s former girlfriends said that his actions could be “intimidating and disturbing.”
Platner denied allegations of being physically intimidating towards former partners, and said after the story broke that he had been open to Mainers about his past, and that it had never crossed his mind to drop out of the race.
Tuesday night’s results showed Maine Democrats rallying behind Platner, as he romped to a projected victory in the primary with almost 75% of the vote as of late Tuesday. While Maine Gov. Janet Mills was also on the ballot, she had suspended her campaign weeks ago and appeared on track to get less than a fifth of the vote.
“Over the last nine months I have seen Mainers come together behind a vision to take back our power from corporations and billionaires,” Platner told supporters on Tuesday night.
Platner’s win gives Democrats an everyman candidate who has been able to attract huge crowds and support.
But he and other Democrats now face months of a general election campaign where Republicans say they will bring up Platner’s controversies every chance they get, both to strike at Platner and to hound Democrats over supporting someone who the GOP says goes against values Democrats claim to support.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), for instance, shared a digital ad right as polls closed in Maine that called Collins “a senator we can be proud of” and portrayed Platner as out-of-touch and scandal-ridden.
But Platner will have the Democratic establishment backing him, too. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chair Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, both of New York, wrote on Tuesday night, “Over the past year, we have created a path to win a Democratic Senate majority and put a stop to the chaos and damage of the Trump administration by defeating the Republicans who enable his harmful agenda. … In November, Maine voters will elect Graham Platner, and we will win a Senate majority.”
Trump candidate advances in South Carolina while one who defied him doesn’t
Most of the U.S. House and governor candidates Trump endorsed in the 2026 cycle have won their primaries, even when Trump endorsed against established incumbents. In South Carolina’s Republican primary for governor, Trump’s endorsement was again on the ballot, as the president had endorsed Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette — snubbing two U.S. representatives running for the seat, Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman.
And the power of Trump’s endorsement was borne out again, to an extent, as ABC News projected that Evette and state Attorney General Alan Wilson will advance to a June 23 runoff in the Republican governor’s primary.
While Trump’s endorsed candidate did not win outright, that might not be a shock, given the sheer number of prominent candidates running and South Carolina’s runoff rules, in which the top two candidates go to a runoff if no one gets more than half of the vote.
Mace, who overall is a staunch supporter of the president, had voted for the release of files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in defiance of Trump’s wishes. Some observers had seen Trump’s snub of Mace’s gubernatorial bid as another example of his political vengeance against lawmakers who opposed him, although Trump did not mention Mace in his endorsement of Evette.
“I voted to release the Epstein files and lost some support for that,” Mace said during remarks on Tuesday night, where she conceded the gubernatorial race without mentioning Trump.
Evette, on the campaign trail, had promoted her own conservative bona fides and strongly pushed for the state to redraw its congressional districts, a move Republican state legislators ended up rejecting.
A toss-up match set for governor in Nevada
While the candidates who won Nevada’s primaries for governor were not surprising in and of themselves, the results on Tuesday set up what’s likely going to be one of the most closely watched gubernatorial elections this fall.
Republican incumbent Gov. Joe Lombardo, who is running for a second term and has Trump’s endorsement, cruised to a projected victory in his primary, while Democrats nominated Aaron Ford, the state’s Attorney General, as their candidate.
Democrats have said they think Lombardo is the most vulnerable governor up for reelection during the 2026 cycle. They’ve argued that voters impacted by rising prices and Latino voters in the state who are souring on the Trump administration will turn against him.
Republicans, meanwhile, have argued that Lombardo is the best choice to continue leading the Silver State. The Nevada Republican Party wrote in September that Lombardo “has shown he’s a true champion for Nevada families and our conservative values. As Sheriff, he kept our communities safe, and now as Governor, he’s battling against the Democrats’ radical agenda.”
The Cook Political Report rates the seat as “Toss Up,” meaning it could be anyone’s game come November.
ABC News’ Jared Kofsky, Clarissa Gonzalez, and Juhi Doshi contributed to this report.
Jeffrey Epstein is seen in a photo released by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice. (New York State Sex Offender Registry)
(WASHIGTON) — Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime executive secretary Lesley Groff told the House Oversight Committee Tuesday that the convicted sex offender was a “master manipulator” and that she was unaware of his crimes, according to her prepared opening remarks and multiple sources familiar with her closed-door testimony.
Groff appeared as part of the committee’s ongoing inquiry into the federal government’s handling of investigations into Epstein and his alleged co-conspirators, which to date has included interviews with former Attorney General Pam Bondi, Epstein’s longtime personal assistant Sarah Kellen, and a prison guard who was on duty the night Epstein died in his jail cell.
In her prepared opening remarks, Groff said she hoped her testimony would “dispel the false notions” that she “knowingly enabled or conspired with him to commit his evil acts.”
“Nothing could be further from the truth,” Groff said, according to a copy of the remarks shared with ABC News.
Groff said that since Epstein’s arrest in 2019, she has struggled to sleep and eat, been the target of harassment and death threats, and been “shunned” by many of her friends and acquaintances.
Groff, who worked for Epstein in New York for more than 18 years, was once described by her boss as an “extension of my brain.”
She was one of four women listed as potential co-conspirators in Epstein’s controversial non-prosecution agreement in 2007, which she said, “remains her scarlet letter.”
“I am not a conspirator and I never would have agreed to this language,” Groff said in her prepared testimony.
Among her job requirements were scheduling Epstein’s frequent meetings with celebrities, scientists and politicians, booking Epstein’s daily massage appointments when he was in New York, and arranging travel for women linked to Epstein.
Groff said she was told when hired that Epstein’s typical day included a morning muffin, yoga and a massage. She said she made daily massage appointments for Epstein, but “never met any of the masseuses” and never heard from these women or from anyone else that they were minors or that they were sexually abused.
Groff also told lawmakers Tuesday that she never had a romantic or sexual relationship with Epstein and said the message appointments she scheduled for Epstein with young women and girls were with massage therapists, a source said.
Groff could not recall scheduling massages for anyone other than Epstein and former Goldman Sachs chief counsel Kathy Ruemmler at a spa, and said the masseuses were both male and female, sources said. She testified that she would receive the names of the massage therapists from Epstein, and that he instructed her to schedule the massages.
Sources said Groff told lawmakers that she scheduled most of the massages for Epstein’s New York residence. Groff testified that she never witnessed or knew of any sexual abuse.
Groff testified that she never met a single massage therapist in person and believes that Epstein — or Bella Klein, a one-time Epstein associate — would pay them with “petty cash,” sources said. Groff told lawmakers that she would occasionally send cash via couriers, said sources.
Groff said that from the moment she was hired in 2001, Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell “established guardrails” and made it clear that she was replaceable.
She said she was told never to associate with their friends.
“Their business was none of my business,” she said she was told. She recalled that she was once “torched” by Epstein after he found out she had attended a party with one of his contacts, but he stopped short of firing her.
“In hindsight, I wish he had fired me,” she said.
Groff explained that she did not leave her job with Epstein after his arrest in 2006, because Epstein lied to her and “insisted that he had been blackmailed and set up,” she said in her prepared remarks.
“It was a shakedown, he claimed, for money,” she said. “In my mind, that was the reasons that he was treated so leniently by law-enforcement for such a serious crime.”
She described her now-deceased former boss as a “master manipulator and deceiver who separated his legitimate life from his secret life as an abuser” and made sure “those two worlds did not collide.”
“Members of the Committee, my heart breaks for these women. I believe them,” Groff said in concluding her opening remarks. “Words cannot express how badly I feel that I was employed by Mr. Epstein during the time he abused these women. I will live with this horrible feeling for the rest of my life. But what I cannot and should not live with are the false innuendos and accusations that I knowingly aided his evil conduct.”
Last September at a press conference in front of the U.S. Capitol, Epstein survivor Marina Lacerda specifically called out Groff, alleging that Groff had called her so many times to go to Epstein’s place for a massage that she dropped out of high school before the ninth grade.
Lacerda — who was one of the key witnesses that led to Epstein’s 2019 indictment for child sex trafficking — told ABC News in an interview this week that Groff was the conduit to Epstein.
“Anything that had to do with Jeffrey Epstein,” Lacerda told ABC News in an interview, “had to go through Lesley Groff.”
Michael Bachner, a lawyer for Groff, declined comment in advance of her appearance on Capitol Hill. He previously told ABC News that Groff “never knowingly booked travel for anyone under the age of 18, and had no knowledge of the alleged illegal activity whatsoever.”
“Ms. Groff, a parent herself, is incredibly shocked and deeply upset about the alleged wrongdoings of Mr. Epstein,” Bachner said.
After Epstein’s arrest in July 2019, federal prosecutors in New York included Groff in a list of potential co-conspirators and sent her a subpoena. Bachner informed the government, just four days after Epstein’s arrest, that his client “would invoke her Fifth Amendment privilege against compelled self-incrimination” if called to appear before a grand jury.
Prosecutors informed her lawyers that “numerous victims [of Epstein] had indicated that she was responsible for scheduling massages during which they were sexually abused,” and that she should consider cooperating with the investigation, according to DOJ records released in response to the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
Groff, now 59, eventually interviewed with the investigators two years later, telling prosecutors that “making massage appointments was just another appointment she had to make” for Epstein, and said that scheduling massages was “around 1%” of her job.
Groff, who was hired by Epstein in 2001, told the FBI she was immediately struck by Epstein’s lifestyle and the company he kept, describing it as “pretty incredible to see all the people Epstein dealt with in politics, television, et cetera.”
“Groff felt, ‘Wow,'” according to an FBI account of her interview.
Groff was initially paid a salary of $60,000 a year, but saw it doubled to $120,000 by Epstein four years later, DOJ records show.
The New York Times reported in 2005 that Epstein bought Groff a new Mercedes and paid for a nanny to ensure she would keep working for him.
“There is no way that I could lose Lesley to motherhood,” Epstein said of Groff, according to the newspaper’s account.
Banking records included in the DOJ’s Epstein files indicate that Groff also received three payments of $100,000 and one for $110,000 from Epstein companies between 2016 and 2018, though the records do not indicate the reasons for the payments.
When Epstein was arrested a second time in 2019, she resigned, her lawyer told prosecutors.
“She felt betrayed and disgusted once the indictment came out,” Bachner wrote.
According to documents released by the Justice Department in response to the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, one victim — who was a minor at the time of her alleged abuse — told the FBI that she felt Groff “knew that the massage appointments were sexual” and “felt it was pretty obvious Lesley knew what was going on,” according to the DOJ records.
Federal prosecutors in 2021 informed Groff that she would not be charged, according to a statement from her attorneys.
“After a more than two-year investigation by the Department of Justice into Jeffrey Epstein’s conduct, which included lengthy interviews of witnesses and a thorough review of relevant communications, we have been informed that no criminal charges will be brought against Lesley Groff,” the statement said.
Lacerda said she hopes the congressional investigators press Groff for answers.
“I just think that she should be honest about it so that we can have some accountability here,” she said.
House Oversight Chairman James Comer said on his way in Tuesday morning that he believed Groff has “information that is very valuable to our investigation.”
“Hopefully, we’ll learn more today,” Comer said.
The chairman reiterated that the committee is conducting “the most thorough investigation ever of Epstein.”
“We’re bringing in the most important people in the whole Epstein criminal enterprise that are still alive, and hopefully we’ll get the truth to the American people. If there’s an opportunity for accountability, we sure want to see that happen,” he said.
Groff did not speak to reporters upon her arrival.
