Former Epstein assistant Sarah Kellen testified before the House committee. Here's what we know

Sarah Kellen, a former personal assistant to Jeffrey Epstein, testified Thursday in a closed-door deposition on her yearslong connection to the convicted sex offender, saying she was a target of his abuse as she managed logistics of his relations with girls and young women.

The House Oversight Committee took her deposition as part of its ongoing investigation into the federal government's handling of cases involving Epstein and his former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell.

Kellen's name appears in the recent files released by the Department of Justice, Miami Herald journalist Julie K. Brown's famous investigative series and civil lawsuits pursued by Jane Doe plaintiffs who survived Epstein's abuse.

She was identified as one of four potential co-conspirators named in Epstein's 2007 "non-prosecution agreement." Authorities, members of Congress and some Epstein survivors have wrestled whether to deem this group of young women as accomplices in his crimes or victims themselves.

Kellen, who has denied wrongdoing, wrote in her opening statement to the committee that Epstein sexually and psychologically abused her for more than a decade. Through the help of therapy, Kellen now sees herself as a survivor as well, she wrote.

"I was trapped inside Jeffrey Epstein's world," her statement read. "He groomed me, sexually and psychologically abused me, controlled me, manipulated me, dominated me, and gaslit me until I could no longer tell which thoughts were mine and which were his."

Kellen, and the three women cited as "potential co-conspirators" in the agreement, have not been charged with crimes associated with Epstein.

Her lawyers also told MS NOW that Kellen continues to endure harassment and threats ever since that non-prosecution agreement was made public with her name visible.

Citing sources in the room during Kellen's testimony, the Miami Herald reported that she was also sexually abused by three other men: former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine, celebrity hairstylist Frédéric Fekkai and fashion photographer Patrick Demarchelier.

Kellen's voluntary, closed-door deposition is one of several sought by the Republican-controlled House committee. Other notable figures who have provided testimony to the committee include former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, billionaire Les Wexner and Ted Waitt, Maxwell's ex-boyfriend.

From across the political spectrum and the worlds of finance, entertainment and beyond, a number of powerful figures have emerged in the Epstein documents, pictures and emails released by the DOJ. Inclusion in the files does not necessarily indicate wrongdoing, but the fallout has led to some high-profile resignations and calls for more accountability.

Why did the committee want to talk to Kellen?

Kellen worked as a personal assistant to Epstein. Alongside other young women the financier kept in his inner circle, she helped maintain the schedule of young women and girls who came to his residences.

Kellen is described in legal documents as a key figure in Epstein's sex-trafficking network, tasked with recruiting girls and handling their travel arrangements because "they were often too young to drive themselves to and from the mansion."

Kellen addressed some of these claims in her opening statement, saying that online articles that labeled her as "Ghislaine's Lieutenant" are a "gross misrepresentation."

"I was a literal indentured slave," she said, adding that Ghislaine called her a "slave" and "minion."

"I had zero power or authority, I was there only to serve and to submit," she said.

"Out of all the interviews we've done, this is going to be the toughest one," Republican Rep. James Comer, chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability told reporters Thursday, adding that members of both parties were split on whether to consider Kellen a survivor or an accomplice in Epstein's abuses.

Watch the clip in the player above.

Comer said the DOJ didn't appear to consider Kellen a co-conspirator, but rather someone who aided in Epstein's prosecution.

The chair said a transcript of her testimony will be released at a later date.

What has Kellen previously said about her connections to Epstein?

Before Thursday's testimony, Kellen hadn't made many public comments about Epstein.

When The Sun approached her in 2020, Kellen told the British tabloid that Epstein raped and abused her weekly.

"I've been made out to be such a monster — but it's not true," she is quoted as saying.

In her opening statement to the committee May 21, Kellen described how she first met Epstein, how she disassociated whenever he sexually assaulted her, and stressed that federal investigators didn't warn or ask her about her name being included in the non-prosecution agreement. She said she didn't know her name was in that document until it was made public about two years later.

"The federal government of the United States branded me a criminal in a secret deal with my own abuser, without ever once speaking to me," Kellen said, emphasizing that no one from the government "ever contacted me for anything" since she first met Epstein.

"I have spent every year since trying to live underneath that piece of paper," she added.