Longtime Epstein lawyer ‘had no knowledge’ of his crimes, he testifies to House committee

Darren Indyke, Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime lawyer, told US House lawmakers on Thursday that he “had no knowledge whatsoever of Jeffrey Epstein’s wrongdoings” during his employment.

The deposition before the House oversight and reform committee on Thursday morning is behind closed doors, but according to a copy of Indyke’s opening statement provided to the Guardian by his attorney, Indyke told lawmakers that that his primary role “was to provide corporate, transactional and general legal services to Mr Epstein and his companies, and I did so”.

Indyke, who began working for Epstein in the 1990s, is testifying under subpoena as the panel continues its investigation into the late disgraced financier.

“I did not socialize with Mr Epstein, and I reject as categorically false any suggestion that I knowingly facilitated or assisted Mr Epstein in his sexual abuse or trafficking of women, or that I was aware of Mr Epstein’s actions while I provided legal services to him,” Indyke said.

“Had I known that he was abusing or trafficking women, I would have quit working for him at once and severed all ties to him,” he said.

Indyke said that after Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to state charges in Florida of solicitation of prostitution and of solicitation of prostitution with a minor, Epstein appeared to him “to be devastated and extremely contrite”.

“He was adamant that he had no idea anyone involved was underage, and personally assured me he would never again let himself be in that position,” Indyke said. “I believed him, and I made the mistake of believing Mr Epstein that he would not again commit a crime. I deeply regret doing so.”

Indyke concluded his opening remarks by saying: “That I did not know what my client did in his private life may be difficult for some to believe, but it is true.”

Indyke also serves as co-executor of Epstein’s estate alongside Richard Kahn, Epstein’s longtime accountant, who testified before the same committee on 11 March. Kahn similarly told lawmakers in his opening statement that he was “not aware of the nature or extent of Epstein’s abuse of so many women until after Epstein’s death”.

Since Epstein’s death in 2019, Kahn and Indyke have managed the settlements paid out by Epstein’s state to his victims. The Epstein Victims’ Compensation Program has distributed more than $121m to 136 women, Indyke told lawmakers on Thursday, adding that the estate has also “directly settled claims by an additional 59 women for a total of more than $48m”.

In February, Kahn and Indyke agreed to settle a lawsuit for up to $35m, without admission of wrongdoing. That suit, filed in 2024, accused Kahn and Indyke of facilitating Epstein’s “sex trafficking and abuse” and alleged that they were “integral in allowing Epstein to escape justice for years by concealing his litany of crimes”.

Neither man has been charged with any crimes and they both deny the allegations against them.

Their congressional depositions follow subpoenas issued in January by Robert Garcia, the House committee’s top Democrat, who said that survivors had “shared with the committee that Indyke and Kahn may have known about Epstein’s activities and helped facilitate his crimes through their management of his legal and financial affairs”.

After Kahn’s testimony last week, Garcia said: “It’s not credible that he had no knowledge of Epstein’s activities, and his testimony today only raises more questions.”

The video recordings and transcripts of Kahn and Indyke’s depositions have not yet been released by the committee.

Earlier this year, in a statement to CBS News, Indyke’s attorney pushed back against the accusations that Indyke and Kahn were complicit in Epstein’s crimes and said: “It is worth emphasizing that not a single woman has ever accused either Mr Indyke or Mr Kahn of committing sexual abuse or witnessing sexual abuse, nor claimed at any time that she reported to them any allegation of Mr Epstein’s abuse.”

The House committee has also heard from other witnesses in recent weeks in relation to its Epstein investigation, including high-profile individuals such as former president Bill Clinton, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and billionaire businessman Les Wexner.

This week, James Comer, the committee’s chair, subpoenaed the US attorney general, Pam Bondi, for testimony regarding the government’s handling of the Epstein files.