WilmerHale, the law firm examining Leon Botstein’s communications with Jeffrey Epstein, said review is ‘ongoing’
Bard College’s president, Leon Botstein, told his staff at a meeting this week that there was no way he could have known thatJeffrey Epstein– who was a convicted sex offender during their interactions over the years – was actually “reprehensible” and predicted he would soon be cleared of any hint of impropriety about their relationship, according to sources who witnessed the remarks.
The liberal arts college’s board of trustees hired in February the white-shoe law firm WilmerHale to independently investigate communications between Epstein and Botstein.
Botstein has served as president of Bard, which is inNew Yorkstate, for more than 50 years. He has said he cultivated a relationship with Epstein as a way to raise money for the school. While questions about Botstein’s relationship with Epstein have been swirling for years, the controversy reached a fever pitch earlier this year after the release of millions of “Epstein files” by the US Department of Justice, which revealed that the two regularly corresponded. Botstein has denied the two were friends, despite years of correspondence and in-person meetings, including a 2012 trip by Botstein to Epstein’s island.
In his comments to staff, sources told the Guardian, Botstein suggested words to the effect of “we live in an oligarchy” and that therefore people “cannot be expected to investigate or know the moral character of the people who can afford to donate money”.
Epstein was already a convicted criminal by the time Botsteinfirst met him in 2011. Epstein had pleaded guilty to state charges of soliciting prostitution and soliciting a minor for prostitution.
Staff members who were at the meeting and spoke to the Guardian anonymously out of fear of retaliation said the gathering on Wednesday – which was attended by more than 100 people but not intended for tenured professors or senior administrators – was announced rather hastily, giving staff members about 48 hours’ notice. During the meeting, sources said, Botstein assured the room that the internal review by WilmerHale would be concluded soon and establish that he had not been friends with Epstein.
There is, however, one indication that Botstein did see Epstein as a friend – and was aware of media reports of allegations that dogged Epstein. On4 January 2015, an email sent by “President”, whose email address is redacted, and is signed “Leon”, the sender expressed condolences that Epstein was the subject of a “resurgence of tabloid publicity” and offered to help. “True friendship, in my view, is among the most honorable and rare of virtues. And I value our friendship, so if there is any way I can be of help, let me know,” the email’s sender wrote.
A Botstein spokesperson has previously said Botstein lacked “detailed context” when he sent the January 2015 email, which he described as a “courtesy note”, according toreport in the Times Union.
A spokesperson for WilmerHale said in a statement to the Guardian: “Our review is ongoing.”
Botstein did not personally respond to a request for comment.
A spokesperson for Bard said in a statement that Bard relies on donations from wealthy individuals and obviously regrets accepting the donations from Epstein, which is why an independent law firm has been brought in to review communications “so that we can understand the facts and improve our vetting procedures”.
According to the board’s statement in February, WilmerHale was retained to review the “full scope” of communications between Epstein and Botstein, Epstein’s interactions with Bard, financial contributions connected to Epstein, and other related matters.
When previously asked about the trip to Epstein’s island, a Botstein spokespersontold a reporter at WAMC, the radio outlet: “President Botstein came down with a severe flu on the trip, kept to himself after dinner, and isolated himself in a resort-style bungalow overnight.”
That accounthas been challengedin an earlier Guardian report by an Epstein victim who was also on the island at that time and said she had no recollection of Botstein being isolated.
