← The Epstein Chronicles
The Epstein Chronicles
Ohio State, Donor Dollars, and the Wexner-Epstein Connection
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Jeffrey Epstein’s ascent into elite financial and social circles was not accidental, according to sustained criticism aimed at retail magnate Les Wexner, who is widely regarded as a central early enabler of Epstein’s power and legitimacy. Epstein,...
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What's up, everyone? And welcome to another episode of the Epstein Chronicles. Whenever we have the conversation about how Jeffrey Epstein was, quote, unquote, made, it has to start with Les Wexner. Because without Les Wexner, Jeffrey Epstein doesn't exist, at least not in the capacity that we're talking about. Wexner was the man who was there to fund him and to hold his hand in the early days when Epstein was first getting started. And if anybody out there thinks that Les Wexner had no idea what Jeffrey Epstein was or what he was up to, I'm gonna have to call bullshit. Because everybody knew, especially people like Les Wexner. And now, not only is the Jeffrey Epstein situation popping up, we have the situation here at Ohio State where the wrestlers were abused by a coach. And now they're demanding that Les Wexner's name gets pulled off all these buildings and on campus. And if Ohio State University had any good sense, they'd be doing it right now. But the truth is, Les Wexner is like a king in the state of Ohio, and there is nothing that's going to knock him off that perch. If the Epstein stuff hasn't done it, nothing's going to do it. And if you think that joke that comer's running in Congress is going to step up, you're sadly mistaken. Les Wexner is a gigantic donor to the Republicans donated over $250,000 to the gubernatorial campaign. You know, the national Republican gubernatorial campaign donated a 250G's to that guy's been spreading money around all over the place. So if you think that they're gonna go after him and try and bring him in for a subpoena, well, I think history is gonna tell you something differently. So today we're going to talk a little bit more about Les Wexner and the situation that is arising on the campus of Ohio State University. This article was published by NBC News, and the headline, OSU Alumni Hold Photos of Billionaire Les Wexner with Jeffrey Epstein While Demanding Testimony in School Abuse Case. Bro won't give any kind of testimony ever. He'll be protected for it. You know, people like you and I, we'd be up right away talking about what we know, whether we wanted to or not. But when you're Les Wexner and you have this kind of money, this kind of power, this kind of reach, you could do whatever you want, whenever you want to do it. This article was authored by Corky Simasco, former Ohio State University students trying to get billionaire Les Wexner to testify about Richard Strauss, also a former campus doctor who allegedly abused dozens of men, staged a protest Thursday at a board of trustees meeting where they brought up Wexner's past friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. And if you didn't know, good old Jim Jordan was part of this coaching squad where this was allegedly taking place. And of course, Jim Jordan didn't do about it. And they did so without uttering a word at the actual meeting. We wanted to let them know that Wexner has been avoiding the subpoena. Former OSU wrestler Mike DiSabato said they didn't let us speak to the board. Of course not. They're going to insulate their guy, right? The guy who's bringing them the bag. And now, look, I'm not going to say that Les Wexner was, you know, Jeffrey Epstein as far as trafficking people, but not a good look for the university. This man was bankrolling that and vouching for him. So in my world, if you're bankrolling something and you're vouching for somebody, that means you support it. I don't really think there's any gray area here. Nearly a dozen former OSU students held a protest outside the building before the meeting. Once inside, they silently held up posters with the words, where's Wexner? And a photo on the other side of Wexner with a former close associate He. He has publicly distanced himself from. Accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Accused. Accused, is it? No. Human trafficker, abuser of women. General piece of Jeffrey Epstein. That's the proper way to talk about this dude. Don't give him the benefit of the doubt. We know what he did. Oh, Bobby. Well, that's just speculation. No, no, it's not. Just take a look at all the payouts that were made to people from the estate. Not exactly what I would call speculation. I think we made our point. DeSabato said OSU's board of trustees is chaired by John Zieger, who is both the father and law partner of Wexner's lawyer, Matthew Zieger. No conflict of interest here. Nothing to see, folks. Keep it moving. Les Wexner. Hell of a guy. We're gonna keep his name on all these buildings as Mr. Zieger runs to the bank to cash a check. Never mind what Virginia said about Les Wexner. Never mind what Maria Farmer said about Les Wexner. Let's slap his name on all these buildings and send our kids here. And it was the elder Zieger. Who had joined the meeting before Tom Lizzie, a former OSU wrestler from 86 to 88, could deliver a statement about Wexner. Of course they're going to insulate and protect him. It is unacceptable. And if Ohio State won't do the right thing, then the powers that be need to step in and make them do the right thing. It read in part. We're here today to publicly express our dismay that Leslie Wexner is avoiding service of a court ordered subpoena for a deposition in the Richard Strauss case. Well, this is what they do. They avoid these subpoenas until the time runs out, or they can find a way out of it, you know, a payoff, get some judge to acquiesce to their request, whatever it might be. But if you think they're just going to march in there happily and answer questions, you're crazy. Do you really think that these people think they're accountable to you? We believe Mr. Wexner's testimony will shed light on the matter, the statement said. OSU spokesperson Benjamin Johnson said Strauss survivors have addressed the board in the past, but did not request to do so at this meeting. There is no standing public comments portion at these meetings, he said. When asked about the subpoena evasion allegation Thursday, the law firm representing Wexner said in a statement it will respond in court at the appropriate time. What is the appropriate time? Does that mean enough time to get to the judge? Does that mean enough time to get to the clerk or the prosecutor? What does it mean? Since early September, we have asked plaintiff's counsel on several occasions to identify what knowledge they believe Mr. Wexner has relevant to the Strauss matter so we could consider the request. The statement said in the past three months, plaintiff's council have failed to answer that question. They always turn it around, right? Oh, it's the wrestler's fault? No, it's Les Wexner's fault for being involved with all these scumbags. Point blank, period. And if he has nothing to do with Mr. Strauss, so what? We all know he had something to do with Epstein. So answer those questions. And, folks, look, this is why I've been pushing for Congress to subpoena Les Wexner. It needs to happen. But unfortunately, the little band of obstructionists that are led by Comer and directed by Trump will never let it happen. The university has been battling lawsuits since 2018, when DiSabato and other former wrestlers went public with allegations that Strauss had sexually abused them and hundreds of other students and that the school knew about it, but did nothing to stop him. Well, that tracks. And for people out there who wonder how the girls could get abused, do you have the same questions about how these wrestlers could get abused? We're talking about the most alpha of alpha males, and they got caught up and they got abused. So don't think that it can't happen to anyone. It can if you're in a situation where you're being manipulated, where you're being groomed can go south real quick. Strauss allegedly preyed on hundreds of men from the mid-70s to the late 90s. He died by suicide in 2005. Yeah, because that's what innocent people do, right? They take their own lives. Ah, yeah, you know what? I'm innocent, but why don't I just cut my own head off? He was never charged in relation to the abuse allegations, but the results of an OSU investigation published in 2019 found that at least 177 male students were sexually abused by Strauss. OSU has settled most claims from survivors, saying it's paid out more than $60 million to 296 people. Chew on that for a minute. 296 people, and they have the audacity to put Les Wexner's name on these buildings? The school says it's still working to resolve lawsuits from plaintiffs who rejected monetary offers. Well, yeah, they don't want to take your hush money. People want trial. People want discovery. People want to out you for the scumbags you are. Wexner, the founder of Limited Brands, which is now called L Brands Incorporated, and owns Victoria's Secret, Pink and Bath, and Body Works, served on the board when Strauss allegedly abused young men at the school, mostly under the guise of doing physicals, according to the OSU report. Allegedly again. So the school paid out 60 million to 296 people for. For allegedly doing it, huh? I mean, there's a point where you have to just stop with the nonsense as a journalist or a writer, and the truth is what it is, not allegedly. What, they're gonna sue you? Strauss is coming back from the dead to sue you? Call him what he is, bro. A abuser. A dude who touched other men, a man who groomed other men, A sick degenerate. Anything but allegedly. Last month, the lawyers for the final batch of Strauss survivors who are currently suing OSU for damages told the federal judge overseeing their case that Wexner may have information about Strauss but has evaded their attempts to serve him with the subpoena. They said Wexner's private security has barred their process servers from subpoenaing the Ohio billionaire at his home in the Columbus suburb of New Albany. Well, I wonder if it's Randy Bowie, the same guy that held Maria Farmer captive. Probably. They said his attorney, Matthew Zeiger, has refused to forward the subpoena to Wexner. Why? How? And how is that acceptable? They asked Judge Michael H. Watson for an alternate way to deliver the subpoena to Wexner, like leaving the document with his security team or mailing it to his residence or sending it electronically to his lawyer. Watson still is not ruled on their request, the court docket shows. When asked Thursday by NBC affiliate WCMH in Columbus if the school would settle the suit, OSU athletic director Ross Bjork said, that's a legal process that has to play out. We always think about the victims and we're always going to have them in our hearts. What a bunch of bullshit. If that was the case, you would just admit that it happened and be done with it, and you'd pull Less Wexner's name off the building. Wexner has not been accused of any wrongdoing in the Strauss case, but his name was invoked recently by another group of survivors, the women who said they were victimized by Epstein and his accomplice, Ghisne Maxwell, and who have been pushing to have the Epstein files made public, who said, huh, this Corey Sizemanski guy really needs to get a reality check. Call these scumbags what they are. Your readers deserve to have the truth. A batch of Epstein documents released by a US district judge in New York in January 2024 includes an allegation made by the late Epstein accuser, Virginia Roberts, who said she was forced to have sex with Wexner numerous times. Wexner has denied the allegation. Another Epstein accuser, Maria Farmer, alleged in 2020 lawsuit against the Epstein estate that she was assaulted by Epstein in 96 at an Ohio property owned and secured by the Wexners. And if you go back and listen to my interview with Maria, she talks about the whole thing about the dude who was in control of it, Randy Bowie, the security, how her dad had to come get her, a horrible, horrible ass story. But this Wexner dude still hasn't been called to account. Nobody is making him come in and speak to Congress. Must be nice to be James Comer's homie. But Wexner's relationship with Epstein is well documented. Epstein was the primary investor and money manager for Wexner. Their relationship was so close that the mogul gave Epstein power of attorney and made him a trustee of the Wexner Foundation. According to court documents, Wexner has condemned Epstein's crimes as abhorrent and claimed he was used. He said he severed ties with Epstein in 2007 after allegations that he was trafficking in and sexually abusing young women first emerged. What an absolute liar. That's right. Les Wexner. He's a liar. Epstein died by suicide in 2019, allegedly while awaiting trial in jail on sex trafficking charges. Notice he doesn't say allegedly here. Right. So, Corey, are you buying the official narrative? Is that what you want us to believe? Imagine being a journalist and buying that narrative. Maxwell, who was convicted of sex trafficking in 2021, is seeking to get her 20 year prison sentence commuted by President Donald Trump, according to a whistleblower report to Congress. Look, let's stop pretending that this story is complicated or worse, accidental. Epstein didn't rise like some rogue comet from the financial wilderness, but BRO Was manufactured. And the man who supplied the money, the legitimacy, the access, and the institutional camouflage was Les Wexner. Full stop. Before Epstein was globetrotting with royalty and intelligent adjacent mystique, he was an unqualified nobody handed the keys to an empire by one of the wealthiest retail magnates in America. No track record, no credentials, just blind trust, unchecked authority and power flowing downhill like fucking sewage. And for decades now, polite society has treated Wexner like a misunderstood philanthropist instead of what he actually is. A foundational enabler of one of the most prolific sex traffickers in modern history. And spare me the donor wash fairy tale about ignorance. When you're spreading a quarter million dollars to the Republican Governors association, slapping your name on buildings, and buying yourself immunity through endowments, the system chooses not to ask the hard questions. Ohio State knows this game well. This is the same institution that stared straight through years of sexual abuse allegations tied to its wrestling program and decided the brand mattered more than the bodies. So, no, nobody should act shocked that OSU keeps Wexner's name polished and honored while the victims rot in the footnotes. Universities don't care about morality. Folks, they. They care about balance sheets. And Wexner brought silence and bulk. Les Wexner shouldn't get to hide behind age, philanthropy, or selective amnesia. He funded the rise. He normalized the monster. He institutionalized Epstein long before anyone else dared. And the fact that Congress hasn't dragged him under oath yet isn't proof of innocence. It's proof of cowardice. The era of protected patrons should be over. If Epstein is Finally being spoken about in full sentences. Then. Then Wexner doesn't get a whisper pass. It's time to stop treating him like a donor and start treating him, at the very least, like a witness. And unlike the powers that be, I'm not looking away. And what makes Wexner's role so insidious isn't just the money. It's the control. Epstein didn't merely receive checks. He was installed, empowered, insulated, and unleashed. He was given sweeping power of attorney over Wexner's finances, properties, and end operations. A level of authority that borders on dereliction of sanity. Unless there was something deeper at work. We're not talking about a mentorship here. Or charity. That was deliberate elevation of a man who would go on to use that power as a shield, a passport, and a hunting license. And every time journalists or investigators circle too close, the same response echoed back. Silence, denials, lawyers, and institutional paralysis. Funny how that works. And look, let's be very clear. This wasn't some naive billionaire getting duped by a smooth talking con artist. Wexner was not a rube. Dude was ruthless. A meticulous businessman who built a global retail empire by controlling every variable he can get his hands on. The idea that this man suddenly misplaced his instincts, his oversight, and his judgment for years on end. Strange credulity past the breaking point. You don't accidentally hand over the vault, the. The alarm codes and the guards unless you're either criminally negligent or deeply invested in not knowing what's being done with them. So, no, philanthropy doesn't get to launder this away. Writing checks to universities, art institutions, or political organizations doesn't erase the downstream damage of what he enabled upstream. The money does not cleanse the stain. It just brings better lighting and quieter rooms. And the institutions that accepted it didn't just look the other way. They helped make sure no one else could ever see either. They offered prestige in exchange for silence and called it civic virtue. Congress has subpoenaed lesser men for far less. If this were truly about accountability and not theater, Les Wexner would already be sitting under the hot lights, answering very simple questions he spent years avoiding. What did he know? When did he know it? And why, after everything became impossible to deny, did the consequences never seem to land where they should? Until that happens, every plaque bearing his name is a reminder that money still talks louder than survivors and that some men are allowed to fund monsters and walk away untouched. All of the information that goes with this episode can be found in the description box.