Bard president Leon Botstein stepping down after inquiry into his Epstein ties

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Investigation found Botstein – who had claimed he wasn’t friends with Epstein – made 25 visits to his townhouse

Leon Botstein has announced he is stepping down from the helm of Bard College, after an independent review of his contacts with Jeffrey Epstein found the college president’s frequent interactions with the convicted sex offender “could have alerted” him to the possibility that he and Bard would be facilitating Epstein’s abuse of women.

An investigation by the WilmerHale law firm, which had been commissioned by Bard’s board of trustees earlier this year to review Botstein’s interactions with Epstein, found the Bard president – 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 that there were two visits by Epstein to Bard. These visits, WilmerHale reported, included “multiple women” who have since been identified as victims of Epstein.

Epstein and Botstein, who has not been charged with wrongdoing in connection with his relationship with the accused sex trafficker, were in contact from 2012 to 2019.

The WilmerHale review also suggested that Botstein had been warned by a senior faculty member that he should not engage with Epstein, who the president was courting as a donor to the college. The report by Wilmer Hale found that instead of heeding that apparent warning, Botstein relied on the view that “an ordinary sex offender” like Epstein could be presumed to be rehabilitated, since he had served time in prison.

Botstein forcefully argued, Wilmer Hale said, that “Bard’s need for funds was paramount”.

“His view was, ‘I would take money from Satan if it permitted me to do God’s work,’” the report stated.

In a statement released on Friday evening, Bard’s board of trustees said they received WilmerHale’s findings on 30 April and that Botstein then submitted his “retirement”, effective 30 June. In a statement, the board said it was grateful for Botstein’s five decades of service to Bard, and called for an “orderly transition”.

“The concerns raised in recent months have been serious and deeply felt. We are grateful to those who came forward to share their perspectives, and we recognize the importance of the questions that prompted this review and the deliberation that followed,” the board said. It also shared a summary of WilmerHale’s findings.

The WilmerHale review raises new questions about Botstein’s financial interactions with Epstein. WilmerHale described how Botstein accepted fees under a consulting agreement with an Epstein entity in 2016, but he did not disclose the agreement to the board on the grounds that he intended to donate those funds to Bard. Botstein appears to have told WilmerHale investigators, according to the law firm’s findings, that the funds were donated to Bard by rolling them into his and/or his wife’s contributions over the years, and were not separately identified from Epstein.

“For this reason, the documents cannot confirm for the board the contribution of those fees to Bard,” the report found.

The board said funds associated with Epstein would be directed to organizations that support survivors of sexual harm.

The WilmerHale review also pointed out that, beyond the frequent visits by Epstein, there were many other invitations extended to the convicted sexual predator – like a stay at Bard’s guest cottage, attending a concert by conservatory students, and a visit to Bard High School Early College – that were not accepted but could have “further exposed” Bard students to Epstein.

WilmerHale found: “President Botstein said that he did not see a risk to Bard’s reputation in pursuing Epstein or the potential risk to Bard students of exposure to Epstein, nor did he consider that his actions could validate and legitimize Epstein to potential victims or their parents.”

The law firm added: “In his public statements and his statements to the Bard community, President Botstein minimized and was not fully accurate in describing his relationship with Epstein.”

In a statement, Botstein did not address WilmerHale’s findings. He said he had previously informed the board that, in the view of his 51 years of service and upcoming eightieth birthday, it had been his intention to retire from the presidency. He said he intended to remain a faculty member, teacher and musician, and said he would live at Finberg House, on the college’s campus.

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