Harvard and Bard face fresh questions from lawmakers over ties to Epstein

Summers served as Harvard’s president from 2001 to 2006. Epstein donated more than $9m to Harvard and its affiliated programs from 1998 to 2008, which overlapped with Summers’s tenure.

Summers has previously said: “I am deeply ashamed of my actions and recognize the pain they have caused. I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr Epstein.”

In a separate letter addressed to Bard chair James Cox Chambers – whom the Guardian previously reported has recently stepped down from that role – Raskin said he was seeking to understand how Epstein exploited and leveraged “multifarious ties in higher education”, from Bard to Columbia University, Harvard and New York University.

Raskin pointed out in the letter that Botstein was resigning from his position as president, a role he held for more than 50 years, following a Bard-initiated investigation that concluded his tenure was marked by “substantial lapses in leadership and candor”.

There was evidence, Raskin said, that Epstein’s relationship to Botstein and Bard leaders “helped him maintain and expand his illegal activities, including potentially trafficking women in New York and the Russian Federation”.

The Guardian reported last month that Bard’s board of trustees voted to end Botstein’s 51-year tenure after board members were presented with the results of an independent review of his relationship with Epstein. Botstein framed his departure as a long-planned retirement in a statement on 1 May.

An Epstein victim who had previous interactions with Botstein said she believed the Bard College president was part of a group of influential and accomplished men whose proximity to Epstein helped to rehabilitate his reputation.

A summary of an internal investigation conducted by the WilmerHale law firm, which was initiated by Bard’s board of trustees and was released publicly on 1 May, found that nothing Botstein did in connection to his relationship with Epstein was “illegal”. It also found that the Bard president was “not fully accurate” in describing his relationship with Epstein publicly or to the Bard community, and stated that Botstein did not fully “see” a risk to Bard’s reputation when he pursued Epstein as a donor for the college, or the potential risk his contacts with Epstein posed to Bard students.

The law firm noted that Botstein had not disclosed fees he accepted under a consulting agreement with an Epstein entity.

Botstein previously denied being friends with Epstein, and has said he never witnessed anything inappropriate, nor had any visibility into Epstein’s “monstrous crimes”. He has never been charged with any wrongdoing related to Epstein.

Harvard and Bard did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Raskin is seeking information from both universities by 1 July.