Summary

Nick Khan testified in the ongoing shareholder lawsuit tied to the TKO merger that he became aware the Department of Justice was examining sex trafficking statutes in relation to Vince McMahon. That testimony cuts against McMahon's public statement from January 2025, when he said the government matter was limited to what he described as minor accounting errors tied to personal payments made during his time as WWE chairman and CEO.

McMahon's January 2025 SEC settlement required him to pay a $400,000 penalty and repay WWE $1.3 million over undisclosed agreements executed on behalf of the company. At the time, McMahon said nearly three years of government scrutiny had ended and insisted there was nothing more to the matter than accounting issues.

Quote from Nick Khan

During questioning, Khan described when he says he first understood the scope of the government's interest:

"When the search warrants for the devices were served upon Vince, Brad Blum, and Vince's personal assistant and when those warrants were sent from Vince's lawyers to WWE's lawyers, and they were read to me and it included sex trafficking is when I was aware of it,"

Khan also said he recalled a grand jury subpoena referencing trafficking statutes when pressed on whether the investigation had gone beyond accounting issues before the later search warrants were served.

How Khan's testimony changes the Vince McMahon timeline

Khan's account matters because it places WWE leadership on notice that the government was looking at allegations beyond bookkeeping long before McMahon publicly framed the matter as narrowly as possible. That gives the shareholder case a sharper point, especially with Khan serving as WWE president and, as his new WWE deal showed earlier this year, one of the company's most important executives.

The broader context remains unchanged. A search warrant was executed on McMahon on July 17, 2023, and former employee Janel Grant filed suit in January 2024 accusing him of sex trafficking and sexual assault. McMahon's representatives said in early 2025 that the investigation ended without charges, and McMahon has denied the sexual misconduct allegations made against him.

Sources

As reported by POST Wrestling.