Ohio billionaire and alleged Jeffrey Epstein co-conspirator Les Wexner confirmed under oath Wednesday that he donated approximately $117,000 to U.S. Sen. Jon Husted across multiple campaigns — even as Husted has refused to answer questions about those donations and his vote to block the release of Epstein-related federal files.

Wexner, 88, appeared before the U.S. House Oversight Committee for a deposition on February 18, 2026. During the proceeding, a committee member questioned Wexner directly about his financial relationship with Husted.

“I just wanted to start with a question around U.S. Senator Jon Husted,” the committee member said. “And it’s been reported that you gave him something like $117,000 in donations. Is that correct?”

“I think you mean Jon Husted. Yeah,” Wexner responded. “I don’t know how much money I gave him.”

When the committee member followed up — “Would that sound about right? It’s a substantial sum” — Wexner confirmed the relationship and the dollar range.

“I’m thinking I met Jon when he was a state representative,” Wexner said. “I’m sure I helped him. I helped him politically when he ran for lieutenant governor. I probably contributed to his senatorial campaign. So is it possible over time I would have given him that much money? It is.”

Federal Election Commission and Ohio Secretary of State campaign finance records reviewed by TiffinOhio.net show Wexner made at least 21 separate donations to Husted or joint committees on which Husted appeared between 2001 and July 2025, totaling $116,892. The most recent contribution — $3,500 to Husted for Senate — was made on July 3, 2025, approximately two months before Husted voted on September 10, 2025 to block a Senate amendment that would have directed the U.S. Attorney General to publicly release Epstein-related documents. The motion to table passed 51-49 along largely party lines. Only two Republicans — Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Rand Paul of Kentucky — broke with their party to oppose the motion.

Campaign finance records show Husted is the only senator up for re-election in 2026 who accepted a contribution from Wexner during the current election cycle.

Wexner named as Epstein co-conspirator

On February 10, 2026, the Department of Justice released previously redacted names from internal FBI documents. An August 15, 2019 internal document from the bureau’s Criminal Investigative Division listed Wexner among eight individuals described as Epstein co-conspirators. NBC News reported that the DOJ “unredacted parts of an Aug. 15, 2019, FBI internal document from the bureau’s Criminal Investigative Division — which included a reference to billionaire Les Wexner as a co-conspirator.” A separate FBI email from August 2019 stated there was “limited evidence” regarding Wexner’s involvement, though he was served a subpoena during the investigation.

A legal representative for Wexner told the Ohio Capital Journal that “the Assistant U.S. Attorney told Mr. Wexner’s legal counsel in 2019 that Mr. Wexner was neither a co-conspirator nor target in any respect. Mr. Wexner cooperated fully by providing background information on Epstein and was never contacted again.”

Epstein was Wexner’s personal financial adviser from the 1980s through 2007. The New York Times reported in August 2019 that “for over 15 years, Jeffrey Epstein served as a close personal adviser to Leslie H. Wexner.” Wexner granted Epstein power of attorney in 1991. According to documents released in December 2025, Epstein paid Wexner $100 million in 2008 as part of a private settlement after Wexner accused him of misappropriating funds.

Epstein was arrested in July 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges. According to a July 8, 2019 press release from the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, “between 2002 through 2005, Epstein sexually exploited and abused dozens of underage girls by enticing them to engage in sex acts with him in exchange for money.” Epstein was found dead in a New York jail cell the following month. His death was ruled a suicide.

Despite extensive public reporting on Wexner’s ties to Epstein following the 2019 arrest — including NBC 4’s July 2019 report on Wexner coming under scrutiny and a September 2019 report that Wexner could be called as a witness — Husted continued accepting contributions from Wexner. Between Epstein’s July 2019 arrest and Husted’s September 2025 vote against releasing the files, Wexner contributed $45,892 to Husted’s campaigns and joint committees with Governor Mike DeWine.

Husted refuses to answer questions

The day before the deposition, Husted refused to answer a reporter’s question about the Wexner donations and his Epstein files vote during a campaign stop in Norwalk. According to the Norwalk Reflector, a reporter asked Husted directly about contributions he received from Wexner and his vote against releasing Epstein-related files. Husted turned his head and did not respond. Several people present shouted at Husted, with one asserting he was a “pedophile protector.”

The pattern of avoidance stretches back further. According to The Bulwark, when a journalist presented materials related to Trump and Epstein to Husted on September 9, 2025 — one day before his vote to block the Epstein file release — Husted said while “staring at the ceiling”: “I’ve got four minutes before I have to be in the chair [to preside over the Senate]. So I gotta run.”

Husted has not responded to questions from TiffinOhio.net about the Wexner donations or the September vote.

In November 2025, Husted characterized the Epstein files as primarily a Democratic issue. “The more we learn about the transparency of the Epstein files, the more it shows that Democrats are the ones that had the strong relationships with them,” Husted said on Fox Business’ “The Evening Edit” on November 19, 2025. When asked about Trump not commenting on the Epstein files, Husted told NewsNation on November 13, 2025: “I think he’s been focused on trying to get the government reopened and trade deals and all of the things that will help make Americans’ lives better. This has been an ongoing story. I’m sure he’ll address it when the time is needed.”

Campaign pledges charity donation without specifics

On Tuesday, Husted’s campaign announced it would donate Wexner’s contributions to charity. Campaign Communications Director Tyson Shepard confirmed the decision but did not specify a dollar amount or identify which organizations would receive the funds.

“Senator Husted has directed the campaign to donate Wexner’s money to charity,” Shepard said, according to the Ohio Capital Journal.

Husted will face former U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, in the November 2026 general election. Husted was appointed to the Senate in January 2025 to fill a vacancy and is running to complete the term. FEC records show no donations from Les Wexner to Brown.

David Cohen, a fellow at the University of Akron’s Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics, told the Ohio Capital Journal the situation poses lasting political risks for Wexner recipients.

“I don’t think that anybody in a competitive race wants to be connected with a Jeffrey Epstein co-conspirator,” Cohen said. “That looks really bad. I’m not saying that there’s a connection between the two. But what I’m saying is it has the appearance that there is a connection between the two.”