Botstein resigns from Bard roles as Democrats demand Epstein-linked probe

WilmerHale review found about 25 visits to Epstein’s townhouse

Leon Botstein, who had led Bard College for 50 years and recently stepped down as president, resigned Wednesday from all Bard-affiliated positions — including his professorship and roles in Bard’s music programs — after Reps. Jamie Raskin and Madeleine Dean demanded a criminal investigation into the former president’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. The Democratic lawmakers, citing unredacted records from the Epstein files, alleged Botstein sent an email to Epstein asking whether a young foreign model and aspiring vocalist was “for me, or are you keeping her for yourself.” Botstein has denied authoring the email.

Brandon Weber, chairman of Bard’s board of trustees, said in a statement Wednesday evening that the college had received additional communications from Raskin — the top Democrat on the House judiciary committee who is leading a congressional investigation into Botstein’s relationship with Epstein. Weber said Bard was undertaking “a full review” of the allegations and cooperating with the committee’s investigation. Members of the executive committee of Bard’s board voted unanimously to accept Botstein’s resignation, Weber said.

In his own statement, Botstein said “any assertion that I knew of or was involved in Epstein’s criminal behavior is wrong.” He added: “But I do not want to see even false allegations about me put the institution I have served for more than half a century put at any risk.” Botstein said he submitted his resignation to protect Bard from distraction.

The latest controversy centers on an email that Democratic committee members, who have access to unredacted emails in the Epstein files, said was sent by Botstein to Epstein in connection with a young foreign model and aspiring vocalist who they say was being “groomed” by Epstein throughout 2014. Raskin and Dean sent a letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel asserting that records in the Epstein files indicate Epstein was offering the young woman, referred to as “Jane Doe,” advice and help with her plans to attend school and develop her career in the United States.

But, the lawmakers said, Epstein pressured her to take sex education and massage courses, and “employed” her while sexually abusing her. “By all appearances, Epstein was trafficking this young woman across state and international lines by mid-2014,” the Democrats’ letter said. Jane Doe was sent to Europe, Canada, and multiple destinations in the United States, the lawmakers said.

The Democratic letter further alleges that the files indicate Epstein “used his relationship with Leon Botstein to convince Jane Doe that she could have a successful musical career after modeling.” In May 2014, Epstein sent Jane Doe to meet Botstein, ostensibly for him to assess her musical talents. The Democratic lawmakers said they reviewed one “startling” email, redacted by the Department of Justice, that they said was sent from Botstein’s then-Bard account, [email protected]. It reads: “Is [Jane Doe] for me, or are you keeping her for yourself.”

“The evidence meets the federal standard for opening a criminal investigation, yet [the] DoJ and FBI apparently had it for at least 18 months without investigating Botstein,” the lawmakers wrote. “We are demanding they investigate Botstein and other potential co-conspirators.”

In a statement, Botstein denied the Democrats’ allegations, including that he had sent the email in question. “The allegations in this letter are untrue, including an email that I did not author or send,” he said.

The lawmakers said they have also heard from more than a dozen whistleblowers who provided the committee with allegations of “decades of unpunished sexual misconduct at Bard.” In his statement, the Bard board of trustees chairman 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 adjudications since the 2015-16 school year.”

The Guardian reported in April, before Botstein’s resignation, that the then-president told staff there was no way he could have known that Epstein — who was a convicted sex offender during their interactions — was actually “reprehensible.” The Guardian asked Bard at the time about the May 2014 email, which appeared in the redacted Epstein files as an email that Epstein appeared to have forwarded to himself, and was originally sent by an email address that only contained the name “President.” A spokesperson for Bard College told the Guardian at the time that the May 2014 message “has absolutely nothing to do with Bard College or President Botstein.”

Botstein announced he was stepping down as president in May, after an independent review of his contacts with Epstein found the college president’s frequent interactions with Epstein “could have alerted” him to the possibility that he and Bard would be facilitating Epstein’s abuse of women. The WilmerHale review found Botstein — who had previously claimed he was not friends with Epstein — made about 25 visits to Epstein’s townhouse, a two-day visit to Epstein’s Little St James Island, and two visits by Epstein to Bard. These visits, WilmerHale reported, included “multiple women” who have since been identified as victims of Epstein.

Botstein has not been charged with wrongdoing in connection with his relationship with Epstein, who died in prison in 2019 while facing sex-trafficking charges. The two were in contact from 2012 to 2019.