By:Megan Henry-February 18, 2026
Les Wexner — Ohio’s wealthiest man who has donated to many politicians — is being deposed by members of Congress on Wednesday about his relationship with convicted child sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffery Epstein.
Wexner — who is listed as an alleged co-conspirator of Epstein in a 2019 FBI document— has made donations to Ohio politicians at the state and federal level as recently as this summer, including Ohio Republican U.S. Sen. Jon Husted’s campaign, Ohio Republican U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno, and Republican Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, among others.
“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,” a legal representative for Wexner said in an email to the Ohio Capital Journal.
“Mr. Wexner cooperated fully by providing background information on Epstein and was never contacted again.”
Wexner also made donations totaling $250,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee at the end of October.
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“It’s a big political problem for anybody that’s been getting Les Wexner money over the years,” said David Cohen, a fellow at the University of Akron’s Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics. “This scandal is not going away. It’s just going to get bigger and bigger and bigger.”
Some Ohio politicians — including Ohio Democratic U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty, Ohio Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Carey, and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, among others — have donated campaign money they have received from Wexner to charities. Others have not.
Wexner and Epstein’s relationship
Wexner, 88, is the founder and former CEO of L Brands, a former retailing and marketing conglomerate that once included Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works, Express, and Abercrombie & Fitch, among other brands.
Epstein was Wexner’s personal financial adviser from 1987 to 2007, during which time Epstein reportedly misappropriated millions of dollar.
In July 2019, Epstein was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges for crimes between 2002 and 2005. Epstein was found dead in a New York jail cell the next month and his death has been ruled a suicide.
After an act of Congress, the U.S. Department of Justice began releasing the Epstein files in December and the U.S. House Oversight Committee will depose Wexner in Ohio on Wednesday.
“As is standard with all deposition subpoenas, Committee staff coordinated in good faith with Mr. Wexner’s legal counsel and are proceeding in accordance with established House and Committee procedures,” said Austin Hacker, a spokesman for Rep. James Comer, R-Kentucky, who serves as committee chairman.
The spokesperson for Wexner declined to comment as to why Wexner was being deposed in Ohio and declined to comment on politicians donating money they received from Wexner to charities.
Political donations
Les Wexner has written checks to politicians on both sides of the aisle since 1980, but the overwhelming majority have been Republican candidates, according to the Federal Election Commission.
His wife Abigail has also made political donations, but the Ohio Capital Journal only focused on donations made by Les. A spokesperson for Abigail declined to comment.
“I think it’s going to be a stain for a lot of people,” Cohen said. “It’s going to be a stain on the records of a lot of people that took donations from Wexner whether or not they knew that he was involved with Jeffrey Epstein.”
Wexner donated $3,500 to U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno in June and he donated $250,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee at the end of October.
“How are they accepting those donations?” Cohen asked. “How is that not bringing up all sorts of red flags within that organization or maybe we should think twice about raking in this money?”
Moreno and the National Republican Senatorial Committee did not respond to questions sent by the Ohio Capital Journal.
Wexner publicly left the Republican Party in 2018, but has continued to donate to Republican candidates and committees.
“If he truly left the Republican Party, he wouldn’t be opening his checkbook,” Cohen said. “If you’re not a member of the party, you’re not writing six figure checks to the party.”
Wexner has also donated money to Democrats over the years — giving $5,000 each to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in 1987.
Wexner’s donations are not just limited to federal and state offices.
Wexner donated $15,000 to Democratic Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther in 2024, $15,400 in 2023, and $7,700 in 2021, according to Franklin County Campaign Finance data.
Ginther did not respond to questions sent by the Ohio Capital Journal, but the Columbus Dispatch reported Monday that Ginther has declined to donate the money he’s received from Wexner, which totals more than $91,000, with Wexner as Ginther’s largest donor over the past decade.
Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein is also not donating previous contributions from Wexner, the Dispatch reported, though Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin has announced he is donating $20,000 he’s received from Les Wexner, but not $22,500 he’s received from Abigail Wexner.
There’s an assumption that folks don’t contribute money just to contribute money, said Robert Alexander, a political science professor and founding director of the Bowling Green State University Democracy and Public Policy Research Network.
“If that individual appears to be tainted, then there’s going to be some suspicion that they were able to get some kind of favor or influence for the money that they contributed,” Alexander said.
“And when you are dealing with things that are as sordid as those that are contained in the Epstein files, it would be hard to imagine politicians not wanting to divorce themselves from that situation.”
Other Ohio political donations Wexner has made in recent years, according to Ohio Campaign Finance data.
- $5,000 donation to state Rep. Brian Stewart, R-Ashville, in June.
- $2,500 donation to Republican Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose in June and $5,000 in 2022. LaRose is running for state auditor in 2026.
- $5,000 donation to Ohio Senate President Rob McColley, R-Napoleon, in 2024. McColley is the lieutenant governor candidate in 2026 running with Vivek Ramaswamy for governor.
- $1,000 donation to Ohio state Sen. Jerry Cirino, R-Kirtland, in 2024.
- $5,000 donation to Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman, R-Lima, in 2022 and $5,000 in 2021.
These politicians did not respond to questions sent by the Ohio Capital Journal.
Politicians donating Wexner’s money
Ohio Republican U.S. Sen. Jon Husted on Tuesday joined an ever-growing list of Ohio politicians who are donating campaign money they have received from Wexner to charities.
“Senator Husted has directed the campaign to donate Wexner’s money to charity,” said Husted Campaign Communications Director Tyson Shepard. He did not specify a dollar amount.
Wexner has donated more than a hundred thousand dollars to Husted over the years, including as recently as July when he donated $3,500 to the Husted for Senate campaign. Wexner donated $15,400 to Husted in 2023.
Wexner donated $13,292 to the joint reelection campaign of Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and then-Lt. Gov. Husted’s in 2020.
The incumbent Husted will face former Ohio Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown in the 2026 U.S. Senate race. Records do not show any donations from Les Wexner to Brown.
Husted voted to block releasing the Epstein files in September.
“That looks really bad,” Cohen said. “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, so it looks bad. … I don’t think that anybody in a competitive race wants to be connected with a Jeffrey Epstein co-conspirator.”
Ohio Democratic U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty, of Columbus, donated money from Wexner to organizations that support survivors of sex trafficking and abuse.
“My thoughts are with the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking and abuse,” Beatty said in a statement last week. “Mr. Wexner must answer all questions under oath. If he participated in or enabled these crimes, he must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
Wexner has donated more than a dozen times to Beatty’s campaign for Congress, totaling $36,200.
The most recent donation was for $3,500 in June and the first donations totaled $5,000 in February 2012. Beatty is an incumbent running for reelection.
Ohio Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Carey, of Columbus, said over the weekend he donated all of Wexner’s campaign contributions to organizations to stop human trafficking and help survivors.
“Epstein was a profoundly evil man whose crimes destroyed countless innocent lives,” Carey said in a statement.
Wexner donated $3,500 to Mike Carey for Congress in June. Carey is an incumbent running for reelection.
Republican Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost will be donating all contributions he received from Wexner to GraceHaven, a nonprofit that helps child survivors of sex trafficking, Yost’s office said in an email. Wexner made a $5,000 donation to Yost in 2022.
Ohio state Rep. Jason Stephens, R-Kitts Hill, received a $5,000 donation from Wexner when he was Ohio Speaker of the House in 2023, but he said he spent that money at county fairs for junior 4H members and charities.
“We donated over $6,500 to our county fair purchases,” Stephens said to the Capital Journal. “I’ve never met the man.”
Last week, Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague donated $23,000 to Findlay Hope House, the amount equal to the campaign contributions Sprague received from Wexner during his 2022 campaign for state treasurer, his campaign manager said.
Sprague, a Republican, is currently running for secretary of state in 2026.
Ohio Auditor Keith Faber’s campaign said he will give the donations from Wexner to law enforcement and victim rights charities. Wexner made a $10,000 donation to Faber in June and $5,000 in 2022.
Faber, a Republican, is running for state attorney general in 2026.
Ohio state Sen. Beth Liston, D-Dublin, received a $1,000 donation from Wexner in 2024, but she said in a statement she donated those funds in December to “a local org meeting the needs of youth impacted by/at risk for human trafficking.”
Ohio state Sen. Michele Reynolds, R-Canal Winchester, said in a statement over the weekend that her campaign has donated any funds from the Wexners “to charities that empower youth leaders and help families facing food insecurity.”
“It is my sincere hope that federal law enforcement continues to seek justice, and that anyone associated with the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” she said in a statement.
Wexner donated $1,000 to Reynolds in June, $5,000 to her in 2024, and $1,000 in 2023.
Ohio state Sen. Andrew Brenner, R-Delaware, said in a statement this week he is donating $1,000 to charity. Wexner made two $500 donations to Brenner in 2012 and 2013.
