Jeffrey Epstein’s calendar revealed meetings with high-profile individuals after sexual offense charges
Jeffrey Epstein’s newly-revealed private calendar showed scheduled meetings with the current CIA director William Burns, Bard College president Leon Botstein, Obama White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler, and professor Noam Chomsky. The meetings were scheduled between 2013 and 2017 after the sex offender and financier pleaded guilty to a state charge of procuring for prostitution a girl under the age of 18 on June 30, 2008.
New documents, which belonged to the convicted pedophile who died in a New York prison cell on August 10, 2019, as he awaited his trial on sex trafficking charges, were obtained by The Wall Street Journal. Burns met with Epstein several times and had a meeting scheduled in 2014, when he was deputy secretary of state and preparing to leave government service.
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'They had no relationship'
However, a CIA spokeswoman, Tammy Kupperman Thorp, stated, "The director did not know anything about him, other than that he was introduced as an expert in the financial services sector and offered general advice on transition to the private sector. They had no relationship," reports DailyMail. The calendar also included several dates with Noam Chomsky, which were arranged between 2015 and 2016. Chomsky told The Wall Street Journal, "First response is that it is none of your business. Or anyone's. Second is that I knew him and we met occasionally." He said the two discussed political and academic topics. The outlet stated that the meetings between them also included former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.
Noam Chomsky planned dinner with filmmaker Woody Allen
As per Insider, Epstein scheduled a flight with Chomsky and his wife for a planned dinner with filmmaker Woody Allen and his wife, Soon-Yi Previn, the adopted daughter of Allen's ex-partner, Mia Farrow. But Chomsky declined and said, "If there was a flight, which I doubt, it would have been from Boston to New York, 30 minutes. I'm unaware of the principle that requires that I inform you about an evening spent with a great artist."
As per The Wall Street Journal, Epstein donated around $850K between 2002 and 2017 to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where Chomsky worked as a professor of linguistics emeritus. Commenting on the information published by the outlet, Chomsky told Fox News, "The reporting covered 2015-16, when what was known about Mr Epstein was that he had been sentenced for a crime, served his sentence, which wiped the slate clean according to US law and norms. The gossip column chose not to publish the extensive information they have about far worse criminals who not only donate to MIT and other institutions but, far more serious of course, are greatly honored by them."
Meetings with Kathryn Ruemmler
Ruemmler, too, had several meetings with Epstein following her work for the Obama administration and before joining Goldman Sachs as their top lawyer in 2020. As per DailyMail, she had more than three dozen scheduled meetings with Epstein, which included lunches and dinners. The outlet also stated that Epstein and Ruemmler were joining each other for a trip to Paris in 2015, while Ruemmler was also scheduled for another visit to his private island in the Caribbean in 2017. In emails detailed in the documents, some of the women alleged to have worked for Epstein asked if they should avoid his place while Ruemmler was there. Epstein just asked one woman not to be around but told the others they could be there. A spokesman for Goldman Sachs said that Ruemmler didn't express any concern about their presence during her meetings at the townhouse. The spokesperson further said, "In the normal course, Epstein also invited her to meetings and social gatherings, introduced her to other business contacts, and made referrals. It was the same kinds of contacts and engagements she had with other contacts and clients." Epstein introduced Ruemmler to big legal clients, such as Bill Gates. The spokesperson said, "Many of Ms Ruemmler's contacts related to a potential representation involving the Gates Foundation, a representation of the Edmond de Rothschild bank, and other business opportunities." Commenting on her link, Ruemmler told The Wall Street Journal, "I regret ever knowing Jeffrey Epstein."
Leon Botstein admitted that he was aware of Epstein's past
Botstein, who has served as Bard College’s president since 1975, said he met with Epstein to try to get him to donate to the liberal arts school. In 2015, Epstein donated 66 laptops. Talking about his relationship with Epstein, Botstein said, "I was an unsuccessful fundraiser and actually the object of a little bit of sadism on his part in dangling philanthropic support. That was my relationship with him." Botstein admitted that he was aware of Epstein's past, as he said, "We looked him up, and he was a convicted felon for a sex crime." Botstein was also the music director for the American Symphony Orchestra, and thus, he invited Epstein to an opera at Bard in 2013, and a concert at the college in 2016.
Details about Jeffrey Epstein
In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty to a felony charge of solicitation of prostitution involving a minor, and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. However, he was released after 13 months as he was granted work release, which allowed him to commute to an office outside the jail six days a week, reports Town&Country. He was again arrested in July 2019, on charges of sex trafficking and conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking. Several weeks later, on August 10, 2019, he was found dead by apparent suicide, as per New York Times.