meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
The Audio Long Read

‘Seriously the best boss ever’: inside the world of Jeffrey Epstein’s assistant

The Audio Long Read

The Guardian

Society & Culture

4.22.5K Ratings

🗓️ 22 June 2026

⏱️ 49 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

No one’s name appears in the Epstein files more than that of Lesley Groff, his assistant. Reading through the thousands of emails, a troubling question arises: what did she know? By Sophie Elmhirst. Read by Norma Butikofer. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

This is The Guardian.

0:09.0

Welcome to The Guardian long read, showcasing the best long-form journalism covering culture, politics and new thinking.

0:15.8

For the text version of this and all our long reads, go to the guardian.com forward slash long read seriously the best boss ever

0:26.9

inside the world of geoffrey epstein's assistant by sophy elmhurst read by norma butytofer

0:33.4

no one's name appears in the epstein files more than that of Leslie Groff, his assistant.

0:43.5

Reading through the thousands of emails, a troubling question arises.

0:48.7

What did she know?

1:00.0

Jonathan Whitcomb, attorney for Leslie Groff, the 5th of June 2020.

1:02.4

She did not know.

1:12.6

Leslie Groff, longtime executive assistant to Jeffrey Epstein, has always claimed she knew nothing of his crimes. Complicity requires knowledge.

1:15.6

To be legally complicit in a crime, you have to know you are helping to commit it.

1:20.6

To be morally complicit, the bar is lower.

1:24.6

You don't even have to play an active part. To have knowledge of the crime and do

1:29.7

nothing is enough. But how do we know what someone knows? I think of all the times I've

1:41.3

closed my eyes or shut down a thought, or turned away from

1:44.8

something wrong, large or small, a planet-level ecological harm or a sub-fiver theft in

1:50.8

the supermarket right in front of me.

1:53.4

Surely, I say to myself, someone else will do something.

1:57.9

It's not my fault or my responsibility.

2:03.6

I am too inconsequential to make a difference here.

2:10.7

Somewhere in the course of those thoughts, I decide not to let the knowledge of what I've seen or heard or inferred take up residence in my mind. In this way, over time, I've found that it is much easier to live with what I know if I do not admit what I know even to myself.

2:23.3

FBI interview with Leslie Groff, the 24th of September, 2021.

...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 24 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Guardian, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Guardian and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.