2026年6月26日 / 美国东部时间下午1:11 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
据美国众议院监督委员会本周公布的莱斯利·格罗夫长达数小时的证词记录显示，美国议员近日就杰弗里·爱泼斯坦使用美国运通公司为多名女性或女孩预订旅行的行为，对爱泼斯坦的长期助手莱斯利·格罗夫进行了质询。
哥伦比亚广播公司新闻今年2月率先报道称，这名已故的定罪性犯罪者使用美国运通顶级的百夫长旅行服务和美国运通黑卡，为主要来自东欧的多名女性或女孩安排了数百份旅行行程。今年早些时候美国司法部公布的文件显示，为爱泼斯坦工作了近20年的格罗夫是与美国运通对接预订行程的核心联系人。
由于美国司法部公布的文件中对姓名进行了打码处理，哥伦比亚广播公司新闻无法核实获得旅行预订的女性或女孩的人数及其年龄。
于6月9日向众议院监督委员会作出的宣誓证词显示，格罗夫称她不认为自己曾为18岁以下的女孩安排过旅行。她表示，自己当时的理解是，这些预订是为爱泼斯坦雇佣的“随行助理”安排的。
格罗夫否认知晓任何一次旅行的目的是让爱泼斯坦或爱泼斯坦人脉圈中的人与相关女性发生性行为。
众议院监督委员会就是否曾为涉案女性或女孩获取签证而安排“诱饵航班”向她施压。正如哥伦比亚广播公司新闻上月报道的那样，美国运通指派了一名专属客户经理娜塔莉亚·莫洛特科娃负责爱泼斯坦的账户，美国司法部公布的文件中的电子邮件似乎显示，应格罗夫的要求，莫洛特科娃一直在安排此类航班，以帮助这些女性或女孩获取签证。
莱斯利·格罗夫（中）于2026年6月9日在华盛顿特区国会山出席众议院监督委员会的闭门采访作证。奇普·索莫德维拉/盖蒂图片社
在2016年的一次电子邮件往来中，格罗夫给莫洛特科娃写道：“娜塔莎，我们需要为[已打码]订一张6月29日从罗马飞往伦敦的航班。起飞时间要差不多。我们已经为[已打码]预留了罗马飞往迈阿密的航班，上午10:35起飞。这趟航班没有返程行程。这是诱饵航班。她不会真的乘坐这趟航班，但她需要出示这份行程单。”
当被问及该航班的目的是否是为了获取签证时，格罗夫的律师迈克尔·巴克纳告诉委员会：“恕我直言，没有迹象表明这是为了获取签证。”
格罗夫对议员们表示：“这位女士想要乘飞机去见爱泼斯坦先生。她不想告诉父母自己要搭乘这趟航班。她想保留飞往伦敦的航班行程，但实际乘坐另一趟航班去见爱泼斯坦先生。我不知道她为什么不想告诉父母，但这不是为了签证。”
在2012年12月的一次电子邮件往来中，格罗夫给莫洛特科娃写道：“[已打码]将于10点30分前往领事馆面谈……她需要为这次会面提供酒店住宿和机票证明。”
莫洛特科娃直接询问格罗夫，这位女性是否只是为了签证目的需要机票和住宿预订。
“说实话，这违反了美国运通的政策，”她在给格罗夫的邮件中写道，“但我们有个办法，可以将预订保留到今晚。”
美国司法部公布的文件似乎显示，在所谓的领事馆面谈结束一天后，格罗夫指示莫洛特科娃取消了已预留的可全额退款的旅行行程，并附言“你做得非常棒”。
在众议院监督委员会高级法律顾问布列塔尼·布里尼亚克询问该笔预订的具体用途时，格罗夫回应道：“我不知道。我认为这是爱泼斯坦先生的一名助理想要获取她的签证。”
“我所做的只是帮她订了机票和酒店房间，”格罗夫对议员们说，“在我看来，她需要获取签证，并且提出了请求，仅此而已。我接到的要求就是帮忙订机票。我对接的就是美国运通百夫长服务。仅此而已。”
当被质疑这是否属于诱饵航班时，格罗夫回答：“不是。”
美国运通周五拒绝就格罗夫的证词以及该公司是否对爱泼斯坦的账户进行了充分的尽职调查置评。
今年2月，美国运通的一位发言人告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻，该公司“强烈谴责虐待、剥削和人口贩运行为。我们认真履行法律和监管职责，包括举报可疑活动。”
“在对他提起联邦指控后，我们终止了他的账户，并且我们一直在持续更新流程和管控措施。对于曾将他列为客户，我们感到遗憾，”这位发言人说道。
Epstein’s longtime assistant grilled by U.S. lawmakers over Amex travel booked for women or girls
June 26, 2026 / 1:11 PM EDT / CBS News
U.S. lawmakers recently grilled Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime assistant Lesley Groff about Epstein’s use of American Express to book travel for multiple women or girls, according to a transcript of her hours-long testimony released this week by the House Oversight Committee.
CBS News was the first to report in February that the late convicted sex offender used Amex’s top-tier Centurion travel service and an Amex Black Card to arrange hundreds of travel itineraries for women or girls, predominantly from Eastern Europe. Groff, who worked for Epstein for nearly two decades, was a central point-person in arranging the bookings with Amex, documents released by the Justice Department earlier this year indicated.
CBS News cannot verify the number of women or girls who received travel bookings or their ages, due to the redaction of names in the files released by the Department of Justice.
In her sworn testimony to the House Oversight Committee on June 9, Groff said she did not believe she ever arranged travel for girls under the age of 18, according to the transcript released Tuesday. She said her understanding was the bookings were being arranged for “traveling assistants” employed by Epstein.
Groff denied being aware of any instance in which the purpose of the travel was for Epstein or anyone in Epstein’s network to engage in sexual activity with the women involved.
She was pressed by the House Oversight Committee about whether “decoy flights” had been arranged for the purpose of obtaining visas for women or girls involved. As CBS News reported last month, Amex had a dedicated relationship manager, Natalia Molotkova, assigned to Epstein’s account, and emails in the files released by the Justice Department appear to show she was arranging such flights, at Groff’s request, to obtain visas for the women or girls.
Lesley Groff, center, arrives to testify at a closed-door interview with the House Oversight Committee on Capitol Hill on June 9, 2026, in Washington, D.C. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
In one 2016 email exchange, Groff wrote to Molotkova: “Natasha, we need to find a flight that departs Rome and goes to London on the 29th for [redacted]. This flight should depart around the same time. The flight we are holding for [redacted] Rome to Miami, 10:35 a.m. No return flights for this flight. This is a decoy flight. She will not really take it, but she needs to show an itinerary for this flight.”
When asked whether the purpose of the flight was to obtain a visa, Groff’s attorney Michael Bachner told the committee, “with all due respect, there is no indication that it was to obtain a visa.”
“This woman wanted to take a flight to visit Mr. Epstein. She did not want to tell her parents that she was going to take this flight. She wanted to keep a flight that was taking her to London and have a different flight, though, take her really to see Mr. Epstein,” Groff told lawmakers. “I don’t know why she didn’t want to tell her parents, but this was not for a visa.”
In a December 2012 email exchange, Groff wrote to Molotkova: “[redacted] has an interview with the consulate at 1030… she needs proof of hotel stay and air for this meeting.”
Molotkova asked Groff directly whether the woman needed a flight and accommodation reservation only for visa purposes.
“It is against AMEX policy, to be honest,” she wrote to Groff, “but here is the option, we can hold it till tonight.”
Groff directed Molotkova to cancel the fully refundable travel itinerary that was being held and signed off to Molotkova with, “you’ve been great,” a day after the alleged consulate appointment took place, the files released by Justice appear to show.
In an exchange with House Oversight Committee Senior Counsel Brittany Brignac, in which she was asked what the purpose of that particular booking was, Groff replied: “I don’t know. I think that this was an assistant of Mr. Epstein’s that wanted to get her visa.”
“The only thing I facilitated was getting her a ticket and a hotel room reservation,” Groff told the lawmakers. “It looks to me like she needed to get her visa, and she was requesting it, and that’s it. I was asked to get the ticket. I was dealing with Amex Centurian. That’s it.”
When challenged on whether this was an example of a decoy flight, Groff replied, “no.”
American Express declined to comment Friday on Groff’s testimony and whether the company had carried out enough due diligence on Epstein’s account.
In February, an American Express spokesperson told CBS News the company, “strongly condemns abuse, exploitation, and human trafficking. We take our legal and regulatory responsibilities seriously, including reporting suspicious activity.”
“We terminated his account following federal charges against him, and we continuously update our processes and controls. We regret having him as a customer,” the spokesperson said.
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