Harvard and Bard face fresh questions from lawmakers over ties to Epstein | Jeffrey Epstein

Harvard University and Bard College They are facing new questions about the institutions’ relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, amid allegations that the convicted child sex trafficker used his ties to universities and colleges to traffic women while also polishing his reputation to avoid detection.

Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House judiciary committee, said in a statement that Harvard and Bard had previously tried to investigate the role their universities and their leaders played in facilitating Epstein’s abuse, but those attempts either failed or fell short of fully explaining what happened.

Among other requests for information, Raskin asked Bard to make available for a written interview its outgoing president, Leon Botstein, who Bard said would pursue a post at the university. Raskin also requested records regarding Epstein’s donations, communications, admissions, interactions and institutional decision-making processes, as well as the full results of an internal review conducted by the university.

Raskin also seeks comprehensive records from Harvard, including all records, financial documents and communications related to Epstein’s research funding and personal relationships with faculty. Raskin said Harvard’s previous investigations into the university’s ties to Epstein, conducted in 2008 and 2019, were incomplete at best and misleading at worst.

Raskin said internal investigations failed to uncover the full range of donations Epstein made after Harvard imposed a ban on such donations in 2008, as well as the full extent of his relationship with Harvard faculty members, including former Harvard president Larry Summers, and the depth of his personal involvement in admissions and faculty research.

“It is time for Harvard, like the rest of America, to come clean and engage in comprehensive accounting that will enable us to learn from this nightmare, take appropriate legal action, and ensure nothing like this happens again,” Raskin wrote in a letter to Harvard president Alan Garber.

Harvard announced in February that Summers would resign from teaching at the end of the academic year. The announcement comes after the justice department released the Epstein files, which revealed more details about Summers and Epstein’s relationship. The emails showed that Summers and Epstein communicated frequently on topics ranging from politics to women; This included Summers pursuing a relationship with someone who viewed him as his “economic mentor.”

Summers was president of Harvard from 2001 to 2006. epstein donated From 1998 to 2008, more than $9 million was transferred to Harvard and its affiliated programs; which coincided with Summers’ tenure.

Summers previously said: “I am deeply ashamed of my actions and recognize the pain they have caused. I take full responsibility for my poor decision to continue to communicate with Mr. Epstein.”

In a separate letter addressed to Bard chairman James Cox Chambers, who the Guardian previously reported had recently left the post, Raskin said he was trying to understand how Epstein had exploited and strengthened “a wide range of ties in higher education”, from Bard to Columbia University, Harvard to New York University.

In his letter, Raskin noted that Botstein resigned as president after more than 50 years following an investigation initiated by Bard, which concluded that his tenure was marked by “significant losses in leadership and integrity.”

Raskin said there was evidence that Epstein’s relationship with Botstein and Bard leaders “helped him continue and expand his illegal activities, including the potential for trafficking women in New York and the Russian Federation.”

The Guardian reported last month that Bard’s board of trustees voted to terminate Botstein’s 51-year tenure after the results of an independent review into his relationship with Epstein were presented to board members. In his statement on May 1, Botstein framed his departure as a long-planned retirement.

An Epstein victim who previously interacted with Botstein said he believed the Bard College president was one of a group of influential and successful men whose closeness to Epstein helped rebuild his reputation.

A summary of an internal investigation conducted by the law firm WilmerHale, initiated by the Bard’s board of trustees and made public May 1, found that nothing Botstein did in connection with his relationship with Epstein was “illegal.” It also found that Bard’s president was “not entirely truthful” in describing his relationship with Epstein publicly or to the Bard community, noting that Botstein “did not fully see” a risk to Bard’s reputation in pursuing Epstein as a donor to the university or the potential risk his dealings with Epstein posed to Bard students.

The law firm said Botstein did not disclose the fees he accepted as part of his consulting agreement with an Epstein institution.

Botstein has previously denied being friends with Epstein, saying he never witnessed anything inappropriate or gained any visibility into Epstein’s “monstrous crimes.” He has never been charged with any crimes related to Epstein.

Harvard and Bard did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Raskin is seeking information from both universities by July 1.