An undated image of Bard College President Leon Botstein and Jeffrey Epstein on Bard’s campus, released as part of a trove of U.S. Justice Department materials earlier this year. The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary is investigating Bard College as part of a vast inquiry into how Epstein used his ties to colleges, including Bard, to facilitate sex trafficking.
The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary is investigating Bard College as part of a vast inquiry into how Jeffrey Epstein operated a “billion-dollar international sex trafficking operation” for years without detection, according to aletterreleased Wednesday by the committee’s ranking Democrat.
The investigation “seeks to understand, among other things, how Mr. Epstein exploited and leveraged his multifarious ties in higher education, including to Bard College,” U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland wrote.
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Raskin, the top Democrat on the powerful House committee, said the probe was directed at academic institutions that may have facilitated Epstein’s “massive criminal conspiracy” that victimized more than 1,000 women and girls from around the world. In addition to Bard, the committee also sent a letter to Harvard University on Wednesday.
The inquiry requested that the college make outgoing President Leon Botstein available for a transcribed interview and turn over all documents — including notes, transcripts, agendas and other records — related to Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and their associates going back to 2011.
The announcement drew the Hudson Valley liberal arts college deeper into the ongoing scandal over Epstein’s extensive connections within academia.
More:Complaint to attorney general alleges Bard ignored conflicts of interest
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Raskin is one of several lawmakers who have criticized the Justice Department for failing to release all files related to the convicted sex offender, who was found dead in his jail cell in 2019. The congressman previously wrote in letters to the presidents of Columbia and New York University alleging that Epstein had lured victims by paying for them to attend the universities while he abused them.
News of the inquiry comes one month after Bard’s 35-member Board of Trusteesvoted to oust Botstein, the college’s longtime president, over his ties to Epstein. Anoutside legal reviewof his six-year relationship with the disgraced financier found that Botstein visited Epstein’s homes at least 25 times, traveled to his Caribbean island and courted his friendship in an apparently unsuccessful attempt to solicit donations to the college.
The report, compiled by the law firm WilmerHale, also dinged Botstein for being “not fully accurate in describing his relationship with Epstein” and criticized his judgment for pursuing Epstein, despite the reputational and safety risks.
“His view was, ‘I would take money from Satan if it permitted me to do God’s work,’” the report said.
