{"id":23135,"date":"2026-05-22T13:22:41","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T13:22:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/sarah-kellen-gave-most-substantive-testimony-yet-in-epstein-probe-comer-says\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T13:22:41","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T13:22:41","slug":"sarah-kellen-gave-most-substantive-testimony-yet-in-epstein-probe-comer-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/sarah-kellen-gave-most-substantive-testimony-yet-in-epstein-probe-comer-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Sarah Kellen gave \u2018most substantive\u2019 testimony yet in Epstein probe, Comer says"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

\n

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said former Jeffrey Epstein aide Sarah Kellen<\/a>provided “the most substantive” testimony to date after Kellen spent hours Thursday answering questions about the convicted sex offender’s inner circle and alleged abuse network during a closed-door deposition.<\/p>\n

“Of all the people that we’ve interviewed thus far, this was by far the most substantive, productive interview that we’ve had. She was very brave coming forward. I can’t imagine how difficult it was for her to go into detail about the abuse that she endured at the hands of Epstein and Maxwell,” Comer told reporters after the deposition, later adding, “I believe she was a victim now.”<\/p>\n

Kellen is the latest figure to appear before the House Oversight Committee as lawmakers ramp up their investigation following the release of more than three million pages<\/a>of Epstein-related files earlier this year.<\/p>\n

\"A
Sarah Kellen attends a party in Southampton, New York, on July 2, 2006. <\/span>Patrick McMullan via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During her testimony, Kellen denied she was an accomplice in Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation and instead portrayed herself as one of his victims amid renewed scrutiny of the late financier’s inner circle.<\/p>\n

Kellen, who worked as Epstein’s personal assistant for years, told lawmakers she was abused by Epstein and had been manipulated, controlled and groomed from a young age, according to prepared remarks obtained by MS NOW.<\/p>\n

“I worked for and was sexually and psychologically abused by Jeffrey Epstein for over a decade,” Kellen said.<\/p>\n

She said Epstein initially hired her as an unpaid assistant before coercing her into sex, and that said she believed enduring the abuse was necessary to keep her job.<\/p>\n

Kellen, who referred to herself as “a literal indentured slave” to Epstein, said she worked constantly for low pay and described herself as trapped financially and emotionally.<\/p>\n

“I know some of you are wondering why I did not leave. I had nowhere else to go. I had no money, no family, no education and no sense that I deserved any better,” she said.<\/p>\n

She also alleged the abuse continued even while Epstein was serving his Florida jail sentence, saying he contacted her from jail and demanded sexually explicit video calls.<\/p>\n

Kellen has long faced public scrutiny because she was identified as one of four alleged “co-conspirators” granted immunity in Epstein’s controversial 2007 plea deal with federal prosecutors in Florida. But Kellen testified Thursday that federal prosecutors labeled her a “potential co-conspirator” in Epstein’s deal without ever interviewing or contacting her until 2019.<\/p>\n

Victims and court filings over the years accused Kellen of scheduling massages<\/a>and recruiting girls for Epstein.<\/p>\n

Kellen also provided lawmakers with three previously unknown names of individuals allegedly tied to Epstein’s abuse network Thursday, according to Comer, though he declined to identify them publicly.<\/p>\n

“One very positive thing today is she gave us three names of people that were involved in abuse,” Comer said.<\/p>\n

It is not immediately clear when the committee is expected to release a transcript of the deposition.<\/p>\n

Kellen urged lawmakers not to require additional Epstein survivors to publicly relive their abuse through congressional interviews or testimony.<\/p>\n

“I hope and pray that I am the only sexual abuse survivor that has to come before you in this manner,” Kellen said. “Nobody else who has been through the hell that Jeffrey Epstein put us through should ever have to endure the pain of recounting it again, publicly.”<\/p>\n

Some Democrats expressed frustration after the deposition, including Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois, who said Kellen was “unwilling” to answer certain questions.<\/p>\n

“We need more answers, and probably we’re gonna have to do it under oath again in a compelled setting, maybe,” said Krishnamoorthi. “Maybe with a subpoena, because certain questions were not answered by the witness.”<\/p>\n

The committee has interviewed several figures tied to Epstein in recent months. Witnesses questioned so far include former President Bill Clinton<\/a>former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton<\/a>longtime attorney Darren Indyke, accountant Richard Kahn<\/a> and a former prison guard connected to Epstein’s detention<\/a> before his 2019 death in federal custody.<\/p>\n

Former Attorney General Pam Bondi is expected to testify before the committee<\/a> on May 29 as lawmakers continue expanding their investigation into the disgraced financier.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Ebony Davis is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked at BLN as a campaign reporter covering elections and politics.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

May. 21, 2026, 8:24 PM EDT House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said former Jeffrey Epstein aide Sarah Kellenprovided “the most substantive” testimony to date after Kellen spent hours Thursday answering questions about the convicted sex offender’s inner circle and alleged abuse network during a closed-door deposition. “Of all the people that we’ve interviewed thus […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23136,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trump"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23135","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=23135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23135\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}