Democrats serving on the House Judiciary Committee have started to identify individuals whose names were redacted from the official Jeffrey Epstein files. Leon Botstein, who previously served as president of Bard College in New York, became the first person named in this effort, according to the Telegraph. He resigned from the academic posts he still held on Wednesday after a letter from Democratic lawmaker Jamie Raskin reached the university.
Raskin, a senior member of the committee, wrote to Bard College and connected Botstein to multiple emails contained in the Epstein investigation materials. Among them was a May 2014 message attributed to Botstein in which he asked Epstein whether a young woman was “for me, or are you keeping her for yourself.”
Botstein’s name does not appear in the version of the file available to the public. Committee members have the unredacted records. According to Raskin’s letter, the email was sent from the address “[email protected]” while Botstein held the presidency.
Committee letter describes alleged grooming and requests broader FBI review
Raskin alleged that the woman identified as Jane Doe in the letter was being “groomed” by Epstein during that period. Epstein, the billionaire later charged with sex trafficking, died in 2019 while awaiting trial.
The letter to the college claimed that Botstein “likely enabled and possibly even participated in” Epstein’s abuse while leading the institution. Democrats on the judiciary committee view Botstein as the initial name on a longer list of associates they intend to make public as part of their accountability push.
Raskin separately contacted the FBI and voiced disappointment that the bureau has maintained there is insufficient evidence to examine Epstein’s alleged co-conspirators. He said a review by his team of the unredacted files “indicate the existence of possible co-conspirators clearly worthy of further investigation and potential prosecution.”
He urged FBI Director Kash Patel to look into Botstein “and others” in connection with the late sex offender and to remove redactions from the names of all non-victims appearing in the files. The redaction fight over the Epstein files has played out in court as well, such as when the DOJ claimed its redactions protect victims and law enforcement names.
“Congress should not have to continue to do your job for you,” Raskin said. He noted that senior Democrats had “no confidence” that Patel would pursue Epstein’s close associates.
Botstein rejected the allegations. He stated that “any assertion that I knew of or was involved in Epstein’s criminal behaviour is wrong.” He said he was nevertheless leaving his remaining Bard College positions because he did not want to risk the reputation of the institution he had served for more than half a century.
The Swiss-born conductor and musicologist had already stepped down as president of Bard College in May following an inquiry the university ordered into his connections with Epstein. On Wednesday, Brandon Weber, chairman of the college’s board of trustees, said he had received further confirmation from Raskin regarding the depth of those ties. Nearly 1,000 emails in the Justice Department’s Epstein files mention Botstein, and many of them indicate a close friendship.
The woman referenced in the May 2014 email was a foreign model whom Epstein drew into his circle by offering help with school and a career in the United States.
Committee members alleged that, rather than providing that assistance, Epstein pushed her to enroll in sex education and massage courses while also sexually abusing her. “By all appearances, Epstein was trafficking this young woman across state and international lines by mid-2014,” the Democrats wrote in their letter.
Separately, lawmakers on the House oversight committee have spent recent months inviting several of Epstein’s close associates to give closed-door testimony. The seven people asked to appear include Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates, former President Bill Clinton, and Leon Black, co-founder of the investment firm Apollo Global Management.
Published: Oct 12, 2026 11:45 am