Richard Kahn, Jeffrey Epstein's former accountant, testified before the House Oversight Committee in a closed-door deposition Wednesday, telling lawmakers that he was "not aware" of Epstein's crimes and regrets that he may have "unknowingly assisted Epstein in any way."
"While Epstein was alive, I never observed any sexual abuse or trafficking of women and never received a complaint—either by one of Epstein's victims or anyone else—of such abuse or trafficking," Kahn said, according to a copy of his prepared opening statement obtained by NPR.
The Republican-led committee subpoenaed Kahn, who started working as Epstein's accountant in 2005 and remained a close confidant until his death in 2019.
Two days before his death, Epstein made Kahn a co-executor of his estate, along with Darren Indyke, Epstein's former attorney. Both are named as beneficiaries of Epstein's estate.
California Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the committee, said in a statement after the deposition that along with managing Epstein's operations, Kahn admitted to facilitating a fake marriage between two women, impersonating Epstein in communications with banks, and "confirmed Epstein spoke about Donald Trump 'a lot.'"
"Jeffrey Epstein's massive sex trafficking ring would not have been possible without the consistent payments and services of his long-time accountant Richard Kahn," Garcia said. "It's not credible that he had no knowledge of Epstein's activities, and his testimony today only raises more questions. Oversight Democrats won't stop fighting until we get justice for the survivors and end this White House cover-up."
Committee Chair, Kentucky Republican Rep. James Comer, told reporters that Kahn had answered every question after two hours of deposition.
Comer said that Kahn "confirmed there were five clients who paid money to Epstein." Those clients were Victoria's Secret CEO Les Wexner, former Apollo Global Management CEO Leon Black, former Microsoft Windows Division President Steven Sinofsky, hedge fund investor Glenn Dubin, and the Rothschild family.
Comer added that Kahn testified that "he had never seen any type of transaction to [President Donald] Trump or anyone in his family," Comer said. "That makes the fifth witness now that's testified under oath that they've never seen any involvement by Donald Trump or [his] family."
"The investigation is about getting the truth to the American people," Comer said. "Trying to figure out how the government failed, answering questions we all have – Was he an agent? Was our government involved in any type of coverup?"
Kahn is mentioned more than 50,000 times in the Department of Justice files released on Epstein. Over more than a decade, Kahn managed Epstein's finances through his company HBRK Associates Inc., advising on numerous transactions, including medical reimbursements for the "girls" and vouching for Epstein on flagged tuition payments.
Kahn said in his opening statement that any gifts made by Epstein to women or men were a "very small fraction of Epstein's spending" and he "did not see them as red flags for abuse or trafficking."
Since Epstein's death, Kahn and Indyke, Epstein's former attorney, have managed settlements from Epstein's estate to his victims. The Epstein Victims' Compensation Fund awarded over $121 million to more than 135 survivors, according to the Associated Press. The fund is now closed, an administrator for the fund said in 2021.
Both Kahn and Indyke have faced intense scrutiny about their alleged involvement in Epstein's sexual trafficking network.
In his opening statement released during the deposition, Kahn said he wanted to "set the record straight."
"In the years that I provided outside accounting and bookkeeping services for Jeffrey Epstein, I was not aware of the terrible and unforgivable things that he did to women and girls," Kahn said. "My relationship with Epstein was strictly on a professional level."
As for Epstein's 2006 arrest, which happened soon after Kahn began working for him, Kahn said Epstein called it a "mistake, that he did not know the woman was underage, and that nothing like that would happen again."
"I believed him at the time and never saw what appeared to be a minor in his presence," Kahn said. "Had I learned of any of his horrific behavior, I would have quit work immediately."
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