Sarah Kellen, a former assistant to Jeffrey Epstein, told congressional investigators Thursday she was “sexually and psychologically abused” by the convicted sex offender, according to a copy of her prepared opening statement.
Kellen — 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 — has presented a quandary for lawmakers as to whether she should be regarded as victim or an accomplice to Epstein in carrying out his crimes.
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.
“I know how the Department of Justice viewed her. I don’t know how the Oversight Committee will view her,” Comer said. “Obviously she’s presumed innocent, she’s going to have due process, and I appreciate her being here today.”
He noted, “We have a lot of questions about everything from the day-to-day activities to what she saw and what she knows.”
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.
“Jeffrey made certain I knew that defying him would cost me my life,” Kellen said, per the pre-written opening statement. “I was a silent body in a chair beside men who started and ended wars.”
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’s scrutiny of her as a total blindside.
“The federal government of the United States branded me a criminal in a secret deal with my own abuser, without ever once speaking to me,” she said in her prepared remarks.
Kellen also recounted to the Oversight panel that she was raised in a “religious cult” 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 “scout for Victoria’s Secret.” She later got a job as Epstein’s assistant and said he only paid her once the sexual abuse began.
“I have read articles online labeling me as Ghislaine’s Lieutenant; that is a gross misrepresentation,” she said, according to the prepared statement. “I was a literal indentured slave; in fact, she even referred to me as her slave and minion.”
Erica Orden contributed to this report.
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