A powerful Democratic lawmaker has called for a criminal investigation into former Bard College President Leon Botstein after congressional investigators discovered an email from Botstein to accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein in which he said Botstein asked if a young woman was “for me, or are you keeping her for yourself.”
The latest development appears to have triggered Botstein’s immediate resignation from all Bard-affiliated positions, including his faculty position and roles in Bard’s music programs. Botstein led the university for 50 years and only recently resigned as president.
Brandon Weber, chairman of the Bard College Board of Trustees, said in a statement Wednesday evening that the college had received additional communications from Congressman Jamie Raskin, who is the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee and is leading a congressional investigation into Botstein’s relationship with Epstein.
Weber said Bard was undertaking “a full review” of the allegations made in Raskin’s letter and was cooperating with the committee’s investigation. Weber also said members of the Bard board’s executive committee voted unanimously in favor of Botstein’s resignation.
Botstein said in a statement that “any assertion that I was aware of or involved in Epstein’s criminal behavior is false.”
“But I don’t want even false allegations about me to endanger the institution I have served for more than half a century,” he said, saying he submitted his resignation to protect Bard from distraction.
Botstein has faced increased scrutiny since the release earlier this year of the Epstein files, which revealed a cozy relationship between the longtime university president and Epstein, who died in prison in 2019 while facing sex trafficking charges. The revelations, including that Botstein once went to Epstein’s island for a visit, contributed to his decision to resign as president.
The latest controversy centers on an email that Democratic committee members — who have access to unredacted emails in Epstein’s files — say was sent by Botstein to Epstein in connection with a young foreign model and aspiring singer who they say was “groomed” by Epstein throughout 2014.
According to a letter sent by Democrats Jamie Raskin and Madeleine Dean to Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel, Epstein’s records indicate that Epstein offered the young woman – referred to as Jane Doe – advice and assistance in her plans to attend school and develop her career in the United States.
But instead of helping her pursue her career, the lawmakers said in their letter, Epstein pressured her to take sex education and massage classes, and “employed” her while he sexually assaulted her.
“Clearly, Epstein was trafficking this young woman across state and international borders in mid-2014,” the Democrats’ letter said. Jane Doe, they said, was sent to Europe, Canada and several destinations in the United States. The Democrats’ letter further alleges that records indicate that Epstein “used his relationship with Leon Botstein to convince Jane Doe that she could have a successful music career after modeling.”
In May 2014, Epstein sent Jane Doe to meet Botstein, ostensibly to evaluate her musical talents. Democratic lawmakers say they reviewed a “surprising” email — which had been redacted by the Justice Department — that they say was sent from Botstein’s Bard account, then-president@bard.edu.
It reads: “Is (Jane Doe) for me, or are you keeping her to yourself.” »
The lawmakers wrote: “The evidence meets federal standards for opening a criminal investigation, and yet (the) DoJ and FBI have apparently had it for at least 18 months without investigating Botstein. We demand that they investigate Botstein and other potential co-conspirators.”
In a statement, Botstein denied Democrats’ allegations, including that he sent the email in question.
“The allegations in this letter are false, including an email that I neither wrote nor sent,” he said.
Lawmakers said they also heard from more than a dozen whistleblowers who brought allegations to the committee of “decades of unpunished sexual misconduct at Bard.” In his statement, Bard’s board chair said, “When a formal complaint alleging sexual harassment or assault is filed, an independent external investigator conducts the review and submits a report to an impartial hearing chair. The college president has not had unilateral decision-making authority over Title IX investigations or decisions since the 2015-16 school year.”
The Guardian reported in April, before Botstein’s resignation, that the then-president told staff he had no way of knowing that Epstein — who had been convicted as a sex offender during their interactions — was actually “reprehensible.” At the time, he predicted he would be cleared of any impropriety.
The Guardian then asked Bard about the May 2014 email, which was listed in Epstein’s redacted files as an email that Epstein appeared to have forwarded to himself, and which was originally sent by an email address that contained only the name “President.” A Bard College spokesperson told the Guardian at the time that the May 2014 message “had absolutely nothing to do with Bard College or President Botstein.”
Botstein announced he was resigning as president in May, after an independent review of his contacts with Jeffrey Epstein found that the university president’s frequent interactions with Epstein “may have alerted him” to the possibility that he and Bard were facilitating Epstein’s abuse of women.
An investigation by the law firm WilmerHale, which was commissioned by Bard’s board of directors earlier this year to examine Botstein’s interactions with Epstein, found that Bard’s chairman — who had previously claimed he was not friends with Epstein — made approximately 25 visits to Epstein’s townhouse, a two-day visit to Epstein’s Little St. James Island, and that Epstein visited Bard twice. Those visits, WilmerHale reported, included “several women” who have since been identified as Epstein’s victims.
Botstein has not been accused of wrongdoing in connection with his relationship with the accused sex trafficker. They were in contact from 2012 to 2019.
The Times Union was first to report Raskin’s letter.
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