Ohio billionaire Les Wexner will testify before Congress in a deposition on Feb. 18 in Washington D.C.
The U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform subpoenaed Wexner earlier this month to testify about his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Committee ranking member Robert Garcia, a California Democrat, said in a statement Wexner was part of Epstein's inner circle.
“Oversight Democrats fought hard to get these subpoenas and forced the vote on Republicans. Now, the Committee will hear directly from the individuals most closely involved in Epstein’s inner circle. We will not stop until we get answers,” Garcia said.
Wexner’s legal representative said in a statement Wexner will cooperate fully with any governmental inquiry into Epstein.
For years, Epstein was Wexner's money manager as the billionaire built up his retail empire with brands like Victoria's Secret, Bath and Body Works and Abercrombie and Fitch. Wexner also paid for Epstein's mansion in New York City.
Epstein gained new credibility by representing the billionaire. In the late 1980's, Epstein posed as a talent scout at one of Wexner's companies, Victoria's Secret. By the late 1990s, Epstein began sex trafficking, grooming and abusing hundreds of teenage girls and young women.
Wexner also faces a subpoena in the lawsuit against Ohio State University by former athletes at the school who were assaulted by former team doctor Richard Strauss.
Wexner was chair of OSU's Board of Trustees during some of Strauss' career at the school. Part of his time on the board coincided with Strauss getting approved for a tenured position and Strauss' 1998 retirement.
Both Strauss and Epstein died by suicide.
Another former employee of Wexner faces a criminal trial for sex trafficking and sexual assault. The Associated Press reports Mike Jeffries, the former CEO of Abercrombie and Fitch, was deemed fit to stand trial by prison officials last month.
