Billionaire businessman Leslie Wexner, who is listed as a potential “co-conspirator” to Jeffrey Epstein in newly unredacted files, spent more than $250,000 in the past year toward Republican candidates, especially in his home state of Ohio. But it’s not something those lawmakers’ offices want to discuss.
Wexner has been closely linked to Epstein for years, but came under scrutiny this week when Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie highlighted that his name was redacted in the Department of Justice’s latest dump of Epstein documents.
According to Federal Election Commission filings, Wexner donated $250,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee in 2025. He also gave $3,500 to Ohio Sens. Bernie Moreno and Jon Husted, as well as $3,300 to Rep. Mike Carey.
Sign Up for NOTUS’ Free Daily Newsletter
Trending
One Democrat, Rep. Joyce Beatty, also received a donation of $3,500 from Wexner.
Wexner’s wife, Abigail Wexner, additionally donated multiple installments of $2,500 to former Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, between 2011 and 2017.
Offices for the NRSC, Husted, Beatty and Carey did not respond to questions from NOTUS about their relationship with Wexner. A source familiar with the situation told NOTUS that Moreno would not be returning the funds, and said that the donation was unsolicited.
Wexner is the founder of L Brands and Victoria’s Secret. He has been linked to Epstein since his time as Wexner’s financial manager from 1987 to 2007. Wexner was Epstein’s primary client for years, and Epstein bought and sold major properties connected to his fellow billionaire, including a Manhattan townhouse that became one of Epstein’s most notorious residences.
Wexner said he severed ties with Epstein in 2007, when the disgraced financier was under investigation for solicitation, although documents recently made public show Wexner emailed him in 2008.
A spokesperson for Wexner told The Columbus Dispatch on Tuesday that “The Assistant U.S. Attorney told Mr. Wexner’s legal counsel in 2019 that Mr. Wexner was neither a co-conspirator nor target in any respect. Mr. Wexner cooperated fully by providing background information on Epstein and was never contacted again.”
Wexner’s name was redacted in the initial release of files from the Justice Department. But lawmakers reviewed unredacted versions of the files earlier this week and said they discovered that the names had been redacted for multiple prominent men, including Wexner.
Massie and Khanna said the redactions violated the law passed by Congress in 2025, which only allows the withholding of personally identifiable information for victims.
“There were six wealthy, powerful men that the DOJ redacted for no apparent reason,” Khanna said Tuesday on the House floor, referencing Wexner and five others. Khanna said that it wasn’t until he and Massie pointed this out to the DOJ that they acknowledged their mistake and unredacted the names.
“In response to my posts on X today, DOJ unredacted an FBI file that LABELS two individuals as co-conspirators,” Massie said in a post on X responding to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. “This is FBI’s own 2019 document listing Wexner as co-conspirator in child sex trafficking. It wasn’t unredacted until tonight.”
“Why did you redact Les Wexner’s name here in the first place? Are there other documents where you have redacted his name, which is against Congress’ orders?” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said in a post on X.
Blanche said Monday that the Justice Department was not concealing information.
“We have just unredacted Les Wexner’s name from this document, but his name already appears in the files thousands of times,” he said in a post on X. “DOJ is hiding nothing.”
Author
