Bard hires top law firm to investigate links between college president and Epstein | Jeffrey Epstein

Bard College’s board of trustees has appointed the outside law firm WilmerHale to conduct an independent investigation into communications between Jeffrey Epstein and the college’s longtime president, Leon Botstein.

WilmerHale will conduct an “independent review” of “the full scope of these communications,” financial contributions linked to Epstein and related matters, the board said in its announcement Thursday evening.

Once completed, the law firm will also make recommendations to the board regarding policies and practices regarding donor vetting, fundraising, codes of conduct and conflicts of interest, the board said.

The announcement follows new revelations about Botstein’s dealings with Epstein in emails and other communications released by the Justice Department, including the university president’s 2012 trip to Epstein’s island.

The hiring of a major US law firm to investigate allegations about Epstein suggests trustees are coming under pressure to respond to new revelations.

Botstein had defended her relationship with the sexual predator, who pleaded guilty in 2008 to charges of solicitation of prostitution and solicitation of prostitution with a minor.

Botstein, who has been at Bard since 1975, said he first met Epstein in 2011, years after he was found to be a sex offender, after receiving an unsolicited gift of $75,000 from Epstein to Bard High School Early College. Botstein said he maintained the relationship “to fulfill my responsibilities as the university’s fundraising officer.”

He also said in a letter to the campus community that Epstein was “not my friend,” WAMC News reported.

Botstein also claimed that he was sick and alone during a dinner he attended on Epstein’s island in 2012, only to attend a fundraiser with billionaire investor Leon Black.

Are there any clues in this story? Please Contact stephanie.kirchgaessner@theguardian.com