{"id":23085,"date":"2026-05-21T15:02:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T15:02:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/house-oversight-confronts-toughest-epstein-interview-to-date\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T15:02:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T15:02:18","slug":"house-oversight-confronts-toughest-epstein-interview-to-date","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/house-oversight-confronts-toughest-epstein-interview-to-date\/","title":{"rendered":"House Oversight confronts toughest Epstein interview to date"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Sarah Kellen, a former assistant to Jeffrey Epstein, told congressional investigators Thursday she was \u201csexually and psychologically abused\u201d by the convicted sex offender, according to a copy of her prepared opening statement.<\/p>\n

Kellen \u2014 who is sitting for a closed-door, transcribed interview with the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee as part of its investigation into the late, disgraced financier \u2014 has presented a quandary<\/a> for lawmakers as to whether she should be regarded as victim or an accomplice to Epstein in carrying out his crimes.<\/p>\n

Speaking with reporters before the start of the interview, House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) said he suspected it would be the hardest conversation with a witness to date.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know how the Department of Justice viewed her. I don’t know how the Oversight Committee will view her,\u201d Comer said. \u201cObviously she’s presumed innocent, she’s going to have due process, and I appreciate her being here today.\u201d<\/p>\n

He noted, \u201cWe have a lot of questions about everything from the day-to-day activities to what she saw and what she knows.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the prepared remarks, Kellen described details of the abuse that she endured at the hands of Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, the only convicted co-conspirator in the Epstein case who is now serving 20 years in prison for her part in the sex trafficking scheme.<\/p>\n

\u201cJeffrey made certain I knew that defying him would cost me my life,\u201d Kellen said, per the pre-written opening statement. \u201cI was a silent body in a chair beside men who started and ended wars.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kellen was one of four women viewed as possible co-conspirators as part of the 2008 non-prosecution agreement many have argued allowed Epstein to continue to prey on young women and girls for years. Kellen, who was ultimately never prosecuted or charged, described the government\u2019s scrutiny of her as a total blindside.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe federal government of the United States branded me a criminal in a secret deal with my own abuser, without ever once speaking to me,\u201d she said in her prepared remarks.<\/p>\n

Kellen also recounted to the Oversight panel that she was raised in a \u201creligious cult\u201d and married at the age of 17. After her divorce, she was excommunicated from her community. A man said he would introduce her to Epstein under the auspices that he was a \u201cscout for Victoria\u2019s Secret.\u201d She later got a job as Epstein\u2019s assistant and said he only paid her once the sexual abuse began.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have read articles online labeling me as Ghislaine\u2019s Lieutenant; that is a gross misrepresentation,\u201d she said, according to the prepared statement. \u201cI was a literal indentured slave; in fact, she even referred to me as her slave and minion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Erica Orden contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sarah Kellen, a former assistant to Jeffrey Epstein, told congressional investigators Thursday she was \u201csexually and psychologically abused\u201d by the convicted sex offender, according to a copy of her prepared opening statement. Kellen \u2014 who is sitting for a closed-door, transcribed interview with the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee as part of its investigation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23085\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}