Leon Botstein resigns from Bard roles as key Democrat demands investigation into Epstein links

A powerful Democratic lawmaker has called for a criminal investigation into former Bard College president Leon Botstein after congressional investigators uncovered an email from Botstein to accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein in which he says Botstein asked if a young woman was “for me, or are you keeping her for yourself”.

The latest development appears to have triggered the immediate resignation of Botstein from all Bard-affiliated positions, including his professorship and roles in Bard’s music programs. Botstein had led the college for 50 years and only recently stepped down as president.

Brandon Weber, chairman of Bard College’s board of trustees, said in a statement on 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 that have been made in Raskin’s letter, and was cooperating with the committee’s investigation. Weber also said members of the executive committee of Bard’s board of trustees voted unanimously to accept Botstein’s resignation.

Botstein said in a statement that “any assertion that I knew of or was involved in Epstein’s criminal behavior is wrong”.

“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,” he said, saying he had submitted his resignation to protect Bard from any distraction.

Botstein has faced intense scrutiny since the release earlier this year of the Epstein files, which revealed a friendly relationship between the then longtime college president and Epstein, who died in prison in 2019 while facing sex-trafficking charges. The revelations, including that Botstein had once been on Epstein’s island for a visit, contributed to his decision to step down as president.

The latest controversy centers on an email that the Democratic committee members – who have access to unredacted emails in the Epstein files – said was sent by Botstein to Epstein in connection to a young foreign model and aspiring vocalist who they say was being “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, records in the Epstein files indicate that 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 US.

Jamie Raskin with Epstein survivors in Washington in February. Photograph: Alex Wroblewski/AFP/Getty Images

But instead of helping her pursue her career, the lawmakers said in their letter, Epstein pressured her to take sex education and massage courses, and “employed” her while he was 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, they said, was sent to Europe, Canada, and multiple destinations in the US. The Democrats’ letter further alleges that the files indicate that 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 say they have reviewed one “startling” email – which had been 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 lawmakers wrote: “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. 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 have 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”. At the time, he predicted he would be cleared of any hint of impropriety.

The Guardian asked Bard at that 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 Jeffrey 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.

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.

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