Epstein’s Personal Assistant Testified Before Congress Thursday — and Said Epstein Abused Her Too
Sarah Kellen, 46, testified Thursday in a closed-door transcribed interview before the House Oversight Committee — one of a series of witnesses the committee has called as part of its ongoing investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking network and the government’s handling of it. Kellen was Epstein’s personal assistant for more than a decade beginning in 2001. She was one of four women named as potential co-conspirators in the nonprosecution agreement federal prosecutors in Florida negotiated with Epstein in 2007 — a deal that shielded all four women from federal charges.
In her opening statement, obtained by Morning Joe legal analyst Lisa Rubin and confirmed by ABC News, Kellen said that Epstein sexually abused her throughout her employment — including during the period when he was incarcerated. Her attorneys wrote in a 2020 civil complaint that every aspect of her life was controlled by Epstein, that he dominated her psychologically, and that she was required to submit to his constant sexual abuse. Federal prosecutors in New York who later investigated possible Epstein collaborators ultimately noted in DOJ records that they did not dispute that Kellen was herself a victim of abuse by Epstein, and that her account was consistent with others who experienced sexual exploitation while working for him.
Survivors and civil lawsuit records have alleged that Kellen handled logistics that enabled Epstein’s abuse of other women and girls — including calling minor victims to arrange massage appointments, escorting them to Epstein’s bedroom, and encouraging them to bring friends. The committee has not released transcripts of Thursday’s closed-door interview. Republican members of the committee have previously characterized Kellen as a co-conspirator. Democratic members have argued the situation is more complex. The committee’s investigation is ongoing.
The Epstein Congressional Investigation — Where It Stands and Who Is Still to Come
The House Oversight Committee’s investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking network has now heard from more than a dozen witnesses. Witnesses who have already testified or appeared include former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, retail billionaire Les Wexner, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Ghislaine Maxwell — who invoked her Fifth Amendment right and declined to answer any questions — prison guards Tova Noel and Michael Thomas, and Sarah Kellen on Thursday.
Witnesses still scheduled include former Attorney General Pam Bondi on May 29 — the most significant remaining testimony given her role as Florida’s attorney general during the period when Epstein’s 2007 nonprosecution agreement was negotiated. Also scheduled are Lesley Groff, Epstein’s longtime executive assistant; investor Leon Black, the Apollo Global Management co-founder who paid Epstein $170 million for what Senator Wyden’s investigation described as tax planning advice; and Kathryn Ruemmler, the former Obama White House counsel who worked at a law firm that represented Epstein.
AI-Generated Search Results Are Wrong Tens of Millions of Times Every Hour — Here Is What You Need to Know
When you type a question into Google and an AI-generated summary appears at the top of your results before any actual links — that is called an AI Overview. Google processed more than five trillion searches in 2026. A study reported by the New York Times found that Google’s AI Overviews provide correct and reputably sourced summaries approximately 90 percent of the time. That sounds reassuring until you do the math. Ten percent of five trillion searches is 500 billion wrong answers per year — tens of millions of incorrect answers every hour — delivered with the visual authority of a confident summary sitting above everything else on the page.
Where do those wrong answers come from? Researchers at Oumi AI found that Google’s AI Overviews frequently draw on social platforms and user-generated content. Facebook is the second most cited source in AI Overviews. Reddit is the fourth. A Pew Research Center survey from July 2025 found that users who see an AI Overview click through to verify what they read in only 8 percent of visits — nearly half the click-through rate of users who see no AI summary at all. Google quietly removed AI Overviews from medical search results in early 2026 after a Guardian investigation documented dangerous health misinformation being served to users asking about symptoms and treatments.
Not all AI works this way. There is a fundamental difference between AI that generates answers by pattern-matching across the open internet and AI that operates within a documented framework drawing only from verified sources. The distinction is methodology and sourcing discipline — and it is the difference between AI that informs and AI that misinforms.
A $750 Million Museum Just Opened in Los Angeles — and It Is Being Called One of the Greatest in the World
The David Geffen Galleries — the centerpiece of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s decade-long campus transformation — opened to the public this spring and are drawing international attention as one of the most significant museum openings in American history. The building was designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor, winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize — the field’s highest honor. It spans Wilshire Boulevard on a bridge structure, adding 110,000 square feet of gallery space on a single level without the hierarchies of floors and wings that traditionally separate art by culture, era, or medium. The collection presents art from all cultures, all time periods, and all media on equal footing. The Art Newspaper gave the opening four stars. The museum is located at 5905 Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles and is open Tuesday through Sunday.
When a congressional committee holds a public hearing witnesses testify in front of cameras, members of Congress ask questions on the record, and the proceedings are broadcast live. A closed-door transcribed interview is different. No cameras. No public audience. The witness meets with committee staff and sometimes members in a private room. Every word is recorded by a court reporter and transcribed into a written record — but that record is not automatically released to the public. The committee decides whether and when to release the transcript.
Closed-door interviews are used when committee investigators want to gather detailed factual information without the theater of a public hearing, when witnesses are more likely to speak candidly without cameras, or when the subject matter involves sensitive information. The transcript from a closed-door interview can later be released by the committee — in full, in part, or with redactions. It can also be used as the basis for public testimony if the committee decides to call the witness back for an open hearing. When members or staff share information from a closed-door session before the committee officially releases it — as happened with Kellen’s opening statement — they are sharing information the committee has not officially released.
Two teenage sisters living in a tent in Gaza were named Middle East Winners in the Earth Prize 2026 — a global environmental competition and incubator for teenagers — for developing a technique to turn rubble from bombed buildings into usable construction materials. The sisters said the view from their tent window is what keeps them motivated. “The large amount of rubble and the lack of accessible rebuilding solutions inspire us to work on this project,” they said in their acceptance statement, “and turn what was once destruction into a starting point for hope.” The Earth Prize awards recognition and seed funding to young people developing solutions to environmental challenges. The sisters hope to teach their technique to their fellow citizens in Gaza.