Jeffrey Epstein Moved $270,000 for Noam Chomsky and Paid $150,000 to Leon Botstein

Jeffrey Epstein paid $150,000 to Leon Botstein and transferred $270,000 between accounts for Noam Chomsky, the two academics have confirmed, giving another glimpse into how the late disgraced financier provided favors for those who associated with him.

Botstein and Chomsky met multiple times with Epstein after he was a registered sex offender, The Wall Street Journal recently reported. Chomsky, a political activist and professor, told the Journal that they met occasionally to discuss political and academic topics. Botstein, the longtime leader of Bard College in New York, said he met with Epstein in an attempt to raise funds for the school.

They were among the many academics, politicians and businesspeople who met with Epstein in the years after he pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution. He was charged in 2019 with sex trafficking and died in jail while awaiting trial later that year.

In response to questions from the Journal, Botstein said he received checks from an account linked to Epstein in 2016 totaling about $150,000. Botstein said he donated the sum to Bard that year as part of a more than $1 million donation. A spokesman for Bard College confirmed that the school received the donation from Botstein.