Leon Botstein Resigns From Bard as Epstein Scrutiny Intensifies (10/8/26)

Leon Botstein resigned from all of his remaining positions at Bard College after House Judiciary Committee Democrats called for a criminal investigation into his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. The latest scrutiny centered on a 2014 email that lawmakers Jamie Raskin and Madeleine Dean said was sent from Botstein’s Bard email account to Epstein concerning a young foreign model and aspiring singer whom they said Epstein was grooming and trafficking. According to the lawmakers, Epstein had used his relationship with Botstein to convince the woman that he could help advance her musical career, and she was sent to meet Botstein in May 2014. The email attributed to Botstein asked Epstein whether the woman was “for me, or are you keeping her for yourself.” Botstein denied authoring or sending the message and rejected any suggestion that he knew about or participated in Epstein’s criminal conduct. Bard’s board accepted his resignation unanimously and said it was conducting a full review while cooperating with the congressional investigation.


The controversy added to months of damaging revelations about Botstein’s ties to Epstein. An independent WilmerHale review commissioned by Bard previously found that Botstein had made about 25 visits to Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse, spent two days on Little St. James, and hosted Epstein twice at Bard, with some visits involving women later identified as Epstein victims. The review concluded that the frequency and nature of the interactions could have alerted Botstein to the possibility that he and Bard were helping facilitate Epstein’s abuse. Congressional investigators also said they had heard from more than a dozen whistleblowers alleging decades of unpunished sexual misconduct at Bard, further widening the inquiry beyond Botstein’s Epstein relationship alone. Botstein, who had led Bard for roughly 50 years and stepped down as president earlier in 2026, said he was resigning from his remaining roles to prevent the allegations from damaging the institution, while maintaining that the claims against him were false.



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Leon Botstein resigns from Bard roles as key Democrat demands investigation into Epstein links | Jeffrey Epstein | The Guardian