Bard College’s board of trustees has retained the outside law firm of WilmerHale to conduct an independent investigation into communications between Jeffrey Epstein and the college’s longtime president, Leon Botstein.
The board said in a statement Thursday evening that WilmerHales would conduct an “independent review” of “the full scope of these communications,” financial contributions linked to Epstein and any related matters.
Once completed, the law firm will make recommendations to the board regarding policies and practices on donor vetting, fundraising, codes of conduct and benefit disputes, the board said.
The announcement follows new revelations about Botstein’s dealings with Epstein, which emerged in emails and other communications released by the Justice Department, including a 2012 trip by the college president to Epstein Island.
The appointment of a major US law firm to investigate the claims surrounding Epstein suggests the trustees are under pressure to respond to the new revelations.
Botstein defended her relationship with the sex predator, who pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting and soliciting prostitution with a minor.
Botstein, who has been at Bard since 1975, first became acquainted with Epstein in 2011 — years after Epstein was known to be a sex offender — after receiving a so-called $75,000 unsolicited gift from Epstein to Bard High School Early College. Botstein said he maintained the relationship “to fulfill my responsibilities as the college’s chief fundraiser.”
He said in a letter to the campus community that Epstein was “not my friend,” according to WAMC News reporting.
Botstein alleges that he was sick and lonely when he attended a dinner on Epstein Island in 2012 and only went to attend a fundraiser with billionaire investor Leon Black.
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