WEBVTT 1 00:00:04.200 --> 00:00:07.360 What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the 2 00:00:07.400 --> 00:00:13.240 Epstein Chronicles. There's no story that includes Jeffrey Epstein that 3 00:00:13.320 --> 00:00:17.480 can avoid the fact that he was embedded in academia. 4 00:00:18.559 --> 00:00:21.879 And after all these years, the bill is finally coming due, 5 00:00:22.480 --> 00:00:26.239 and people like Larry Summers and Leon Botstein are finally 6 00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:29.879 being called upon to answer for their relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. 7 00:00:31.399 --> 00:00:34.880 And as you can imagine, their answers have not been great. 8 00:00:35.280 --> 00:00:37.880 And of course it's led to Larry Summers being shit 9 00:00:37.960 --> 00:00:41.640 canned at Harvard. And now Botstein is stepping down from 10 00:00:41.640 --> 00:00:46.479 his president's position. Now, of course he's not leaving Bard entirely, 11 00:00:47.359 --> 00:00:51.320 but he's stepping down from that position. And now we 12 00:00:51.479 --> 00:00:55.399 have Jamie Raskin, who is looking for a comprehensive accounting 13 00:00:56.280 --> 00:00:59.119 and he wants to have an interview with mister Botstein. 14 00:00:59.399 --> 00:01:02.159 And look, just be clear, I'm not saying that mister 15 00:01:02.240 --> 00:01:05.400 Botstein was taking part in any kind of abuse. I 16 00:01:05.400 --> 00:01:07.719 don't know that, but I do know that he enabled 17 00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:11.719 Jeffrey Epstein. I know that he helped refurbish Jeffrey Epstein's image, 18 00:01:12.400 --> 00:01:14.680 and I know that led to other people being abused. 19 00:01:15.760 --> 00:01:17.879 And if this was a Rico case well might be 20 00:01:17.920 --> 00:01:21.079 a different conversation. But considering that's just a hope and 21 00:01:21.079 --> 00:01:24.000 a dream, we have to deal with the reality before us. 22 00:01:24.920 --> 00:01:28.239 And when it comes to people like Botstein, people like Summers. 23 00:01:28.959 --> 00:01:33.200 The most we can hope for probably his embarrassment, and honestly, 24 00:01:33.319 --> 00:01:35.799 that's a drop in the pill compared to the suffering 25 00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:41.000 of Jeffrey Epstein's victims and survivors. So look, I get 26 00:01:41.040 --> 00:01:45.359 it right, nobody wants to demean somebody. I'm not going 27 00:01:45.439 --> 00:01:47.400 to sit here and call somebody a diddler if we 28 00:01:47.480 --> 00:01:50.680 have no proof of it. But at the same time, 29 00:01:51.239 --> 00:01:53.959 you have to answer for your relationships. You're a grown 30 00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:57.400 ass man. You can't have relationships with people like Jeffrey 31 00:01:57.400 --> 00:02:00.920 Epstein when he's a known child abuser and then think 32 00:02:00.959 --> 00:02:03.200 that it's going to be okay, that nobody's going to 33 00:02:03.280 --> 00:02:07.079 have anything to say about it, Because I assure you 34 00:02:07.159 --> 00:02:11.120 people have some shit to say, so do why. Today's 35 00:02:11.199 --> 00:02:13.960 article is from The Guardian and the headline Harvard and 36 00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:19.639 Bard face fresh questions from lawmakers overties to Epstein. This 37 00:02:19.759 --> 00:02:26.120 article was authored by Stephanie Kirch Gasner. Harvard University and 38 00:02:26.199 --> 00:02:29.960 Bard College are facing new questions about the institution's relationship 39 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:33.879 with Jeffrey Epstein amid allegations at the convicted child sex 40 00:02:33.919 --> 00:02:37.919 trafficker leveraged his ties to the universities and their faculty 41 00:02:37.960 --> 00:02:42.919 to traffic women while also burnishing his reputation to avoid detection. 42 00:02:43.520 --> 00:02:47.639 That's exactly what happened. That's not an allegation, that's not 43 00:02:47.680 --> 00:02:50.360 a maybe. That's what happened. And for all these years 44 00:02:50.400 --> 00:02:53.960 they've denied it, they've made excuses, and they've acted like 45 00:02:54.000 --> 00:02:57.639 it's been overblown. But the truth is they've been covering 46 00:02:57.680 --> 00:02:59.800 it up. And not to veer too far off course, 47 00:02:59.840 --> 00:03:03.280 but it looks like a serious trafficking ring has been 48 00:03:03.280 --> 00:03:06.840 covered up over in the UK as well. Rupert Lowe 49 00:03:06.840 --> 00:03:09.439 has a new report out about grooming gangs, and we're 50 00:03:09.479 --> 00:03:11.520 going to get into that too, because I think it 51 00:03:11.599 --> 00:03:15.800 dovetails with what we talk about now. Of course, there's 52 00:03:15.879 --> 00:03:19.000 people who say that the numbers inside of that inquiry 53 00:03:19.039 --> 00:03:23.439 are overblown, but my response to that is even one 54 00:03:23.479 --> 00:03:26.599 girl is enough. If one girl suffered that kind of 55 00:03:26.599 --> 00:03:28.680 fate at the hands of some kind of grooming gang 56 00:03:28.840 --> 00:03:31.479 and it was covered up, that needs to be investigated. 57 00:03:32.319 --> 00:03:34.280 And I think it goes directly to the heart of 58 00:03:34.319 --> 00:03:38.360 what we're dealing with when it comes to Epstein. A 59 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:41.879 lot of it has to do with institutional embarrassment. I 60 00:03:41.919 --> 00:03:45.759 need you guys to understand that, and these governments will 61 00:03:45.800 --> 00:03:48.879 go to great lengths to try and make sure that 62 00:03:48.879 --> 00:03:52.520 that doesn't occur, even if that means covering up something 63 00:03:52.560 --> 00:03:56.120 like Jeffrey Epstein or the grooming gangs. Over in the UK, 64 00:04:00.120 --> 00:04:03.439 Jamie Raskin, top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said 65 00:04:03.439 --> 00:04:06.520 in a statement that Harvard and Bard had both previously 66 00:04:06.520 --> 00:04:10.719 attempted to investigate the role their universities and leadership played 67 00:04:11.039 --> 00:04:14.680 in facilitating Epstein's abuse, but that those attempts either failed 68 00:04:15.080 --> 00:04:18.800 or fell short of a full accounting of what occurred. Well, 69 00:04:18.839 --> 00:04:22.639 hold on one second, you mean internal investigations don't work. 70 00:04:23.000 --> 00:04:26.680 Come on, you should be able to investigate yourself, right 71 00:04:26.879 --> 00:04:29.079 if you commit a crime, he don't worry about it. 72 00:04:29.199 --> 00:04:32.279 I'm taking a look at myself. I just looked at 73 00:04:32.319 --> 00:04:35.680 my books and everything's okay here. Meanwhile, you're stealing money 74 00:04:35.680 --> 00:04:39.319 hand over fist. The whole entire internal investigation is some 75 00:04:39.360 --> 00:04:42.279 of the biggest bs in the history of big bs. 76 00:04:43.079 --> 00:04:46.199 Among other demands for information, Raskin has asked Bard to 77 00:04:46.199 --> 00:04:49.959 make Leon Botstein, its outgoing president, whom Bard has said 78 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:53.199 will retain a role at the college, available for a 79 00:04:53.199 --> 00:04:59.399 transcribed interview. Raskin also requested records related to Epstein's donations, communications, 80 00:04:59.560 --> 00:05:04.800 admission interactions, and institutional decision making, as well as the 81 00:05:04.839 --> 00:05:09.800 full results of an internal review by the college. Raskin 82 00:05:10.040 --> 00:05:13.759 is also seeking extensive records from Harvard, including all records, 83 00:05:13.920 --> 00:05:18.480 financial documents, and communications relating to Ebstein's funding of research 84 00:05:18.879 --> 00:05:23.199 and his personal relationship with faculty members. I mean, that's good, 85 00:05:23.319 --> 00:05:25.199 and we should be getting all of that, but I 86 00:05:25.279 --> 00:05:28.920 doubt he will. Remember a lot of this stuff was clandestine, 87 00:05:29.079 --> 00:05:30.920 a lot of this stuff was done on the down low, 88 00:05:31.879 --> 00:05:33.920 and Epstein knew not to have a paper trail. He 89 00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:37.879 knew better. So the whole entire internal review has always 90 00:05:37.879 --> 00:05:42.759 been a bunch of nonsense to me. Raskin is also 91 00:05:42.879 --> 00:05:47.800 seeking extensive records from Harvard, including all records, financial documents, 92 00:05:47.800 --> 00:05:51.600 and communications relating to Ebstein's funding of research and his 93 00:05:51.639 --> 00:05:56.920 personal relationships with faculty members. Raskin said Harvard's previous investigation 94 00:05:57.600 --> 00:06:00.879 into the university's ties to Epstein, conducted in two thousand 95 00:06:00.920 --> 00:06:04.480 and eight in twenty nineteen, we're at best incomplete and 96 00:06:04.519 --> 00:06:09.279 at worst misleading. Man, Am I really agreeing with Jamie 97 00:06:09.360 --> 00:06:12.480 Raskin right now? Not exactly, somebody I agree with all 98 00:06:12.519 --> 00:06:15.399 the time, but he's not wrong here, and there needs 99 00:06:15.439 --> 00:06:20.079 to be a full accounting. Any of these universities that 100 00:06:20.120 --> 00:06:23.160 receives one single dollar in public money should be on 101 00:06:23.199 --> 00:06:26.160 the hook to explain away their relationship with someone like 102 00:06:26.240 --> 00:06:30.279 Jeffrey Epstein, and up until this point Harvard has not done. So. 103 00:06:31.279 --> 00:06:34.839 Every single excuse they give, every reason they give, is 104 00:06:34.920 --> 00:06:37.439 worse than the last. I mean, if the president of 105 00:06:37.480 --> 00:06:41.879 your university is palaling around with Jeffrey Epstein, and Jeffrey 106 00:06:41.879 --> 00:06:45.920 Epstein has an office on the campus of Harvard, I'd 107 00:06:45.959 --> 00:06:48.040 say that that's a problem that starts at the top, 108 00:06:48.160 --> 00:06:51.839 right the president of the university. We're not talking about 109 00:06:51.839 --> 00:06:56.759 some rebel ass professor who decided to do this after 110 00:06:56.800 --> 00:07:02.759 the university told him no. The universe encouraged it. They 111 00:07:02.839 --> 00:07:06.160 might not have said it, but their behavior encouraged this 112 00:07:06.279 --> 00:07:09.720 kind of shit, and with their internal reports, the idea 113 00:07:09.759 --> 00:07:13.319 was to whitewash that, to make it like the university 114 00:07:13.360 --> 00:07:15.720 had no idea and that it was just a couple 115 00:07:15.759 --> 00:07:18.480 of professors and a couple of people on campus who 116 00:07:18.519 --> 00:07:19.879 thought it would be a good idea to have a 117 00:07:19.920 --> 00:07:24.000 relationship with Epstein. That's what they tried to frame it as, 118 00:07:24.560 --> 00:07:27.680 but that was never the truth, and now Jamie Raskin 119 00:07:28.079 --> 00:07:31.600 is calling them out. Raskin said the internal investigation failed 120 00:07:31.600 --> 00:07:34.920 to uncover a series of donations Epstein made after Harvard 121 00:07:35.160 --> 00:07:38.199 had instituted a ban against such donations in two thousand 122 00:07:38.240 --> 00:07:40.279 and eight, as well as the full extent of his 123 00:07:40.360 --> 00:07:45.560 relationship with Harvard faculty members, including Harvard's former president Larry Summers, 124 00:07:45.879 --> 00:07:49.120 and the depth of his personal involvement with student admissions 125 00:07:49.160 --> 00:07:52.399 and faculty research. Yeah, how many people got in there 126 00:07:52.560 --> 00:07:55.600 because of Epstein? How many times did Epstein reach out 127 00:07:55.639 --> 00:07:59.800 and get somebody into the school? I'm sure if you remember. 128 00:07:59.800 --> 00:08:01.839 At the heart of it, that's what Jeffrey Epstein was 129 00:08:02.480 --> 00:08:05.360 a fixer, and he knew if he could get some 130 00:08:05.439 --> 00:08:08.959 vulnerable girls into Harvard, then he'd be able to abuse 131 00:08:09.000 --> 00:08:12.160 them and not just actually, but in general, have them 132 00:08:12.199 --> 00:08:14.639 do whatever he wants them to do, whenever he wants 133 00:08:14.680 --> 00:08:17.720 them to do it, because if they don't, well, they'll 134 00:08:17.759 --> 00:08:21.040 lose their spot at Harvard, and they'll lose their immigration 135 00:08:21.199 --> 00:08:23.240 visa and they'll have to go back to whatever country 136 00:08:23.240 --> 00:08:25.759 they're from. And that was the guillotine hanging over the 137 00:08:25.800 --> 00:08:31.160 head over these girls. It's time for Harvard, like the 138 00:08:31.160 --> 00:08:34.159 rest of America, to come clean and engage in the 139 00:08:34.200 --> 00:08:37.159 comprehensive accounting that will allow us to learn from this nightmare, 140 00:08:37.360 --> 00:08:40.919 take appropriate legislative action, and make sure nothing like it 141 00:08:41.080 --> 00:08:44.240 ever happens again. Raskin sent in a letter to Harvard 142 00:08:44.240 --> 00:08:47.759 President Alan Garber, and look, I doubt we're gonna stop 143 00:08:47.759 --> 00:08:51.559 it from ever happening again, but hopefully we're more vigilant 144 00:08:51.559 --> 00:08:56.720 this time, and hopefully people recognize the signs and they 145 00:08:56.720 --> 00:09:02.399 do something about it, they step up. Harvard announced in 146 00:09:02.399 --> 00:09:05.440 February that Summers was resigning from teaching at the end 147 00:09:05.480 --> 00:09:08.919 of the academic year. The announcement followed the Justice Department's 148 00:09:08.960 --> 00:09:12.440 release of the Epstein files, which revealed more details about 149 00:09:12.440 --> 00:09:16.840 Summer's and Epstein's relationship. The email showed Summers and Epstein 150 00:09:16.840 --> 00:09:21.679 communicated frequently on topics ranging from politics to women, including 151 00:09:21.720 --> 00:09:24.559 Summers pursuing a relationship with a person who saw them 152 00:09:25.120 --> 00:09:28.600 as an economic mentor like I never understood the whole 153 00:09:28.600 --> 00:09:31.240 thing about teachers try and hook up with their students 154 00:09:31.879 --> 00:09:35.480 even in college. What are you doing? Why would you 155 00:09:35.480 --> 00:09:37.799 cause yourself that kind of headache, that kind of drama. 156 00:09:38.360 --> 00:09:40.919 Go to the local pub, find yourself somebody else, a 157 00:09:40.960 --> 00:09:45.600 different girl. Whenever there is that power imbalance, you're setting 158 00:09:45.600 --> 00:09:48.960 yourself up for a disaster. And when you walk into 159 00:09:49.000 --> 00:09:53.200 it willingly, well, you get what you deserve. Summer served 160 00:09:53.200 --> 00:09:55.200 as Harvard's president from two thousand and one to two 161 00:09:55.240 --> 00:09:58.159 thousand and six. Epstein donated more than nine million to 162 00:09:58.200 --> 00:10:01.240 Harvard and its affiliated program from ninety eight to two 163 00:10:01.240 --> 00:10:05.080 thousand and eight, which overlapped with Summer's tenure. Somers has 164 00:10:05.080 --> 00:10:08.519 previously said, I am deeply ashamed of my actions and 165 00:10:08.639 --> 00:10:11.960 recognize the pain they have caused. I take full responsibility 166 00:10:11.960 --> 00:10:16.879 for my misguided decision to continue communicating with mister Epstein. Yeah, 167 00:10:17.000 --> 00:10:19.879 after you got called out, after the whole country knw 168 00:10:19.960 --> 00:10:22.240 Y were a scumbag? How come you didn't do it? 169 00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:22.720 Previously? 170 00:10:25.200 --> 00:10:28.600 In a separate letter addressed to bar chair James Cox Chambers, 171 00:10:28.960 --> 00:10:32.279 whom The Guardian previously reported has recently stepped down from 172 00:10:32.320 --> 00:10:35.720 that role, Raskin said he was seeking to understand how 173 00:10:35.759 --> 00:10:41.320 Epstein exploited and leveraged multifarious ties in higher education from 174 00:10:41.320 --> 00:10:46.879 Bard to Columbia University, Harvard and NYU. Raskin pointed out 175 00:10:46.879 --> 00:10:49.759 in the letter that Botstein was resigning from his position 176 00:10:50.080 --> 00:10:52.639 as president, a role that he held for more than 177 00:10:52.679 --> 00:10:57.960 fifty years, following Abart initiated investigation that concluded his tenure 178 00:10:58.039 --> 00:11:02.279 was marked by substantial lapses in leadership and candor not 179 00:11:02.360 --> 00:11:06.360 exactly legacy building. Huh, imagine they do this report and 180 00:11:06.360 --> 00:11:09.480 that's what they come back with. Now can you imagine 181 00:11:09.519 --> 00:11:14.159 what an external report would find? There was evidence. Raskin 182 00:11:14.240 --> 00:11:17.600 said that Epstein's relationship to Botstein and barred leaders helped 183 00:11:17.639 --> 00:11:21.759 them maintain and expand his illegal activities, including potentially trafficking 184 00:11:21.799 --> 00:11:25.600 women in New York and the Russian Federation. And that's 185 00:11:25.639 --> 00:11:29.279 a big story the Russian Federation. I doubt it's ever 186 00:11:29.320 --> 00:11:32.200 going to get legs, but boy, there were a lot 187 00:11:32.200 --> 00:11:36.159 of women and girls abused from the Russian Federation one 188 00:11:36.240 --> 00:11:39.919 hundred percent. And that's because Epstein knew that he had 189 00:11:39.960 --> 00:11:43.840 friends in FSB that would press these women, make sure 190 00:11:43.840 --> 00:11:46.919 they didn't talk. I mean, look at the emails that 191 00:11:46.960 --> 00:11:50.879 he sent about Ganijeva and the response from his Russian contact, 192 00:11:51.159 --> 00:11:53.759 how they're gonna press her, How she's not protected by 193 00:11:53.759 --> 00:11:56.919 anybody in Russia, so it should be easy. And that 194 00:11:56.960 --> 00:11:58.960 should give you a little bit of a look at 195 00:11:58.960 --> 00:12:02.000 how these people operated. And when we're talking about people 196 00:12:02.039 --> 00:12:04.480 from the Russian Federation, what are they going to do? 197 00:12:04.879 --> 00:12:07.360 Go to the local police chief who's in the pocket 198 00:12:07.639 --> 00:12:11.159 of insert oligarch here. The Guardian reported last month that 199 00:12:11.240 --> 00:12:14.639 Bard's Board of trustees voted to end Botstein's fifty one 200 00:12:14.679 --> 00:12:18.200 year tenure after board members were presented with the results 201 00:12:18.519 --> 00:12:22.639 of an independent review of his relationship with Epstein. Botstein 202 00:12:22.720 --> 00:12:25.360 friend his departure as a long plan retirement in a 203 00:12:25.399 --> 00:12:30.799 statement on May first. Oh yeah, retirement, forced retirement. You 204 00:12:30.840 --> 00:12:33.399 mean these people shouldn't be able to save face with 205 00:12:33.440 --> 00:12:37.879 those kinds of statements. An Epstein victim who had previous 206 00:12:37.919 --> 00:12:41.240 interactions with Botstein, said she believed the Bard College president 207 00:12:41.320 --> 00:12:44.360 was part of a group of influential and accomplished men 208 00:12:44.639 --> 00:12:49.480 whose proximity to Epstein helped to rehabilitate his reputation one 209 00:12:49.559 --> 00:12:52.240 million percent. And that's the part that a lot of 210 00:12:52.240 --> 00:12:55.200 people leave out. A lot of people are like, well, 211 00:12:55.320 --> 00:12:57.519 so and so didn't take heart in any abuse. So 212 00:12:57.639 --> 00:13:02.360 what's the big deal? They enabled, They helped rehabilitate this 213 00:13:02.440 --> 00:13:06.120 piece of shits reputation, and that of course led to 214 00:13:06.960 --> 00:13:10.120 countless girls being abused. And there was certainly levels to it, 215 00:13:11.240 --> 00:13:14.960 and there were certainly levels that reached criminality. And if 216 00:13:14.960 --> 00:13:17.639 we ever had a real investigation, well we would have 217 00:13:17.679 --> 00:13:22.120 seen that. A summary of an internal investigation conducted by 218 00:13:22.120 --> 00:13:25.080 the Wilmer Hell Law Firm, which was initiated by Bard's 219 00:13:25.120 --> 00:13:28.000 board of trustees and was released publicly on May first, 220 00:13:28.279 --> 00:13:31.360 found that nothing Botstein did in connection to his relationship 221 00:13:31.360 --> 00:13:34.639 with Epstein was illegal. It also found that the Bard 222 00:13:34.639 --> 00:13:38.080 president was not fully accurate in describing his relationship with 223 00:13:38.159 --> 00:13:41.960 Epstein publicly or to the Bard community, and stated that 224 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:45.000 Botstein did not fully see a risk to Bard's reputation 225 00:13:45.600 --> 00:13:48.080 when he pursued Epstein as a donor for the college, 226 00:13:48.600 --> 00:13:51.559 or the potential risk his contacts with Epstein posed to 227 00:13:51.639 --> 00:13:54.720 Bard's students. I mean, you know, a guy that's already 228 00:13:54.759 --> 00:13:58.519 been to prison for abusing a girl who was under age. 229 00:13:59.200 --> 00:14:05.240 No risk here, guys, squeaky clean, He's the fucking pope. 230 00:14:05.360 --> 00:14:08.679 The law firm noted that Botstein had not disclosed fees 231 00:14:08.720 --> 00:14:12.840 he accepted under a consulting agreement with epstein entity. Botstein 232 00:14:12.879 --> 00:14:16.480 previously denied being friends with Epstein and has also said 233 00:14:16.480 --> 00:14:20.440 he never witnessed anything inappropriate nor had any visibility in 234 00:14:20.519 --> 00:14:24.320 Ebstein's monstrous crimes. He's never been charged with any wrongdoing 235 00:14:24.480 --> 00:14:27.879 related to Ebstein. We have received the letter and are 236 00:14:27.960 --> 00:14:31.480 reviewing it, a Bard College spokesperson told The Guardian. Harvard 237 00:14:31.480 --> 00:14:34.519 did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Raskin 238 00:14:34.759 --> 00:14:37.960 is seeking information from both universities by July. 239 00:14:38.120 --> 00:14:40.720 First. Look, this story. 240 00:14:40.440 --> 00:14:44.559 Is just beginning when it comes to higher education academia 241 00:14:45.559 --> 00:14:49.360 and places like Harvard and Bard and like usual, will 242 00:14:49.399 --> 00:14:53.000 be here every step of the way as a story unfolds. 243 00:14:54.519 --> 00:14:56.440 As for this one, well that's going to do it. 244 00:14:57.120 --> 00:14:59.519 All the information that goes with this episode can be 245 00:14:59.559 --> 00:15:03.320 found in the description box. Hey, what's up, everybody, and 246 00:15:03.399 --> 00:15:07.080 welcome to the program. We're gonna get right into it tonight. 247 00:15:07.200 --> 00:15:13.200 Considering this is a relatively long article, it's really an 248 00:15:13.320 --> 00:15:17.759 editorial that was posted by Lawrence Lessig over at the 249 00:15:17.799 --> 00:15:24.840 Harvard Crimson Now. Lawrence Lessig is the RL Furman Professor 250 00:15:24.840 --> 00:15:29.480 of Law and Leadership at Harvard, and he's taking Harvard 251 00:15:29.519 --> 00:15:34.159 to task in this editorial. Folks, I've been calling for 252 00:15:34.279 --> 00:15:38.440 this kind of rhetoric for quite some time, and very 253 00:15:38.440 --> 00:15:41.559 few people in academia were willing to stand up and 254 00:15:42.080 --> 00:15:48.120 say anything about this stuff. Doctor Stephen Delay was one. 255 00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:48.799 Of the very few. 256 00:15:49.360 --> 00:15:52.600 So it's nice to see Lawrence Lessig show up to 257 00:15:52.639 --> 00:15:56.639 the party. I mean a little late, obviously, but still, 258 00:15:57.399 --> 00:16:00.279 what do I always talk about? If the people that 259 00:16:00.279 --> 00:16:04.000 are within these institutions aren't holding their peers and each 260 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:08.240 other responsible for their behavior, then how can anybody on 261 00:16:08.279 --> 00:16:13.279 the outside ever expect for that to occur? So it 262 00:16:13.360 --> 00:16:19.440 starts on the inside and seeing seeing Lawrence Lessig pen 263 00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:24.360 this essay, this editorial here is certainly a step in 264 00:16:24.399 --> 00:16:27.759 the right direction. So let's jump right into it and 265 00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:31.559 let's see what he has to say. This appeared in 266 00:16:31.600 --> 00:16:40.120 the Harvard Crimson. Author is Lawrence Lessig. Harvard has apparently 267 00:16:40.159 --> 00:16:43.720 concluded its review of its relationship to the convicted child 268 00:16:43.840 --> 00:16:49.759 sex offender Jeffrey E. Epstein in September twenty nineteen, after 269 00:16:49.840 --> 00:16:55.000 expressing that he profoundly regrets Harvard's association with Epstein. University 270 00:16:55.039 --> 00:16:59.720 President Lawrence S. Bakow promised to review how we prevent 271 00:16:59.759 --> 00:17:03.519 these situations in the future, and what did we get. 272 00:17:03.879 --> 00:17:07.319 Like usual, when it comes to these internal reports, or 273 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:11.160 we're gonna have a real reflective look in the mirror 274 00:17:11.359 --> 00:17:13.759 and we're gonna see how we can be better. Whenever 275 00:17:13.799 --> 00:17:16.559 it's that kind of stuff, it usually falls flat on 276 00:17:16.599 --> 00:17:19.559 its face. At least with my experience here in the 277 00:17:19.559 --> 00:17:24.400 Epstein case, every single time one of these groups does 278 00:17:24.440 --> 00:17:39.119 a internal review, it always turns out to be absolute garbage. 279 00:17:39.200 --> 00:17:42.079 The report found Harvard had taken no money from Epstein 280 00:17:42.200 --> 00:17:46.880 after his conviction, though there were further questions that merited study. 281 00:17:47.559 --> 00:17:51.400 Two weeks ago, after completing that study, Harvard determined to 282 00:17:51.440 --> 00:17:55.920 shutter the research center Epstein's money had founded and discipline 283 00:17:56.359 --> 00:18:01.559 its academic director. Yet in these steps, Harvard has still 284 00:18:01.599 --> 00:18:04.680 not given us a fair accounting of our past, and worse, 285 00:18:05.359 --> 00:18:09.640 in this latest step, it hides that account behind a scapegoat. 286 00:18:09.759 --> 00:18:13.000 And that is definitely the case. They have scapegoated from 287 00:18:13.079 --> 00:18:16.680 the jump over at Harvard. None of the people at 288 00:18:16.680 --> 00:18:19.440 the top, none of the trustees, Lawrence back Out, none 289 00:18:19.480 --> 00:18:21.920 of these other people that are you know, top dog 290 00:18:21.960 --> 00:18:26.440 at Harvard, people that are supposed to be responsible for 291 00:18:26.480 --> 00:18:30.160 this sort of thing. None of these people have felt 292 00:18:30.240 --> 00:18:33.559 the full weight of what occurred. None of them have 293 00:18:33.640 --> 00:18:36.920 stepped down or lost their positions, or lost tenure or 294 00:18:36.920 --> 00:18:42.000 lost anything like that. Instead, a few of the people 295 00:18:42.079 --> 00:18:45.319 who were getting that money directly from Epstein ended up 296 00:18:45.359 --> 00:18:48.599 being the only people to take the fall. And while 297 00:18:48.640 --> 00:18:51.720 they should have, right the people that facilitated the Epstein 298 00:18:51.799 --> 00:18:54.400 money in the first place, the scientists that he was 299 00:18:54.440 --> 00:18:57.000 collecting and that we're taking money from him, all of 300 00:18:57.039 --> 00:18:59.799 those sons of bitches should have lost their jobs for sure, 301 00:19:00.039 --> 00:19:02.799 They should have lost tenure, they should have lost everything, honestly, 302 00:19:04.599 --> 00:19:08.440 But the same goes for the people above them. Is 303 00:19:08.480 --> 00:19:13.880 there no accountability when it comes to the management level, 304 00:19:14.799 --> 00:19:18.160 so to say, in this situation, is it just the 305 00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:21.680 professors who should be sanctioned who should lose their jobs? 306 00:19:22.039 --> 00:19:25.720 Or should everybody who was around at that time, everybody 307 00:19:25.880 --> 00:19:29.000 who should have seen what was going on who didn't, 308 00:19:29.160 --> 00:19:34.400 either willfully or because they're morons. All of those people 309 00:19:35.319 --> 00:19:37.720 should not be in the positions that they're in. There 310 00:19:37.759 --> 00:19:41.400 are plenty of capable positions people to fill those positions. 311 00:19:44.440 --> 00:19:47.839 There are three chapters in the evolving relationship between academic 312 00:19:47.880 --> 00:19:52.359 institutions and Jeffrey Epstein in the first before his conviction 313 00:19:52.440 --> 00:19:56.640 in two thousand and eight. Everyone loves Epstein, and that 314 00:19:56.799 --> 00:20:00.960 is the case. All of these people were gush over Epstein. 315 00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:04.440 Remember the Vanity Fair article. You know, these people were 316 00:20:04.480 --> 00:20:09.640 gushing over Epstein. And they'll tell you now that, oh, 317 00:20:09.680 --> 00:20:13.480 we had no idea what Jeffrey Epstein was. There was 318 00:20:13.599 --> 00:20:17.319 no signs nobody had any idea. Meanwhile, we know that's 319 00:20:17.319 --> 00:20:20.759 a bunch of bs, right, we all know that that's garbage. 320 00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:24.880 Epstein didn't wake up one morning and decided to become 321 00:20:24.920 --> 00:20:30.200 an absolute scumbag pervert. This is who he was. This 322 00:20:30.279 --> 00:20:32.880 is the kind of person he was. This was his character. 323 00:20:33.319 --> 00:20:35.559 All of those crass jokes while you guys are all 324 00:20:35.599 --> 00:20:38.519 around at a science conference, that didn't ring a few 325 00:20:38.559 --> 00:20:42.559 alarm bells. I mean, come on, already, there's a time 326 00:20:42.599 --> 00:20:44.960 and place for everything. You know, you're sitting around with 327 00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:47.119 the guys. It's a poker game. You want to have 328 00:20:47.160 --> 00:20:48.440 some crass language. 329 00:20:48.480 --> 00:20:50.240 I get it. Yeah, of course that's what guys do. 330 00:20:50.559 --> 00:20:53.240 I get it. You're at a science conference. 331 00:20:53.480 --> 00:20:56.319 Why do you need to have girls with you? Why 332 00:20:56.359 --> 00:20:59.680 do you need to talk about disgusting topics that you know, 333 00:21:00.279 --> 00:21:03.480 these there's no place for it in the in the 334 00:21:03.960 --> 00:21:06.920 environment or the setting. And that didn't ring any of 335 00:21:06.960 --> 00:21:08.960 the alarm bells, didn't go off for anybody. It didn't 336 00:21:09.000 --> 00:21:11.400 ring any alarm bells for any of these people. Please 337 00:21:11.480 --> 00:21:13.880 give me a break. I'm just you know, I'm so 338 00:21:14.119 --> 00:21:18.440 sick of the well, we had no idea. We didn't 339 00:21:18.480 --> 00:21:21.079 hear anything, we didn't see anything. Well, you certainly didn't 340 00:21:21.079 --> 00:21:30.400 say anything in the third after the twenty eighteen article 341 00:21:30.440 --> 00:21:34.680 in the Miami Herald detailing his depravity, everyone hates Epstein. 342 00:21:34.960 --> 00:21:37.039 A hold on a second, You guys should have hated 343 00:21:37.079 --> 00:21:39.720 him a long time before that. This stuff was out there. 344 00:21:41.680 --> 00:21:45.079 People were talking about who Epstein was. There was, you know, 345 00:21:45.920 --> 00:21:50.240 a lot going on in that realm of the atmosphere. 346 00:21:51.359 --> 00:21:54.119 People knew exactly what Epstein was. It didn't take the 347 00:21:54.200 --> 00:21:59.880 Julie Brown article to let people know what Jeffrey Epstein was. 348 00:22:00.359 --> 00:22:04.119 The Julie Brown article that got people to start paying attention. 349 00:22:07.839 --> 00:22:10.759 But in the second there is an ambiguous dance between 350 00:22:10.799 --> 00:22:16.039 this generous funder pedophile and universities that recognize complexity in 351 00:22:16.119 --> 00:22:19.079 taking his money. See, and that's one of my biggest 352 00:22:19.079 --> 00:22:22.079 problems with this. They knew it was wrong to take 353 00:22:22.119 --> 00:22:25.720 old boys dough, but they did it anyway, and then 354 00:22:25.759 --> 00:22:28.279 when they're called out on it, they start with the 355 00:22:28.319 --> 00:22:31.200 whole nonsense of, well, what do you mean we had 356 00:22:31.240 --> 00:22:36.640 no idea, you knew, everybody knew you took that money anyway, 357 00:22:37.440 --> 00:22:39.640 And what you thought was that Jeffrey Epstein was in 358 00:22:39.680 --> 00:22:42.240 the clear. He did his time, They weren't gonna come 359 00:22:42.240 --> 00:22:44.400 get him again because of all of his connections. There 360 00:22:44.440 --> 00:22:48.319 was no way that was going to occur. So these 361 00:22:48.400 --> 00:22:51.079 dudes hopped right back into bed with them, had their 362 00:22:51.079 --> 00:22:54.880 hand out, and Jeffrey Epstein was handing out the hundreds 363 00:22:54.880 --> 00:23:01.759 of thousands. In two thousand and eight, former university president 364 00:23:02.240 --> 00:23:07.440 Drew G. Faust resolved that complexity with clarity, but incompletely 365 00:23:08.079 --> 00:23:12.000 unlike others such as MIT, Faust determined that Harvard would 366 00:23:12.039 --> 00:23:15.839 take no more money from Epstein. According to the May 367 00:23:15.920 --> 00:23:21.240 twenty twenty report, Yeah, okay, but very much like others, 368 00:23:21.279 --> 00:23:25.079 including Mit, she gave no directive about how the many 369 00:23:25.240 --> 00:23:28.480 other ways that Epstein was connected to the university should 370 00:23:28.519 --> 00:23:32.359 be affected by her determination. Of course, she didn't go 371 00:23:32.440 --> 00:23:35.319 all the way, you know, that's called mister Lessig. I'm 372 00:23:35.319 --> 00:23:39.400 pretty sure you know, you're a very skilled lawyer, very 373 00:23:40.759 --> 00:23:44.240 intelligent man, well schooled, much more well schooled than me, 374 00:23:44.400 --> 00:23:48.839 that's for sure. But the cynic in me says it 375 00:23:48.920 --> 00:23:51.519 was left there on purpose as a loophole so they 376 00:23:51.519 --> 00:23:59.759 could still get that money while re attaining plausible deniability. 377 00:24:00.599 --> 00:24:03.480 In particular, she gave no guidance about how the center 378 00:24:03.519 --> 00:24:07.440 that Epstein's main contribution to Harvard had established, the Program 379 00:24:07.480 --> 00:24:13.279 on Evolutionary Evolutionary Dynamics, should negotiate its continued interactions with Epstein. 380 00:24:13.839 --> 00:24:16.720 And I'm sure that mister Lessig here is going to 381 00:24:16.920 --> 00:24:20.079 give us a different avenue and a different bit of thought. 382 00:24:20.359 --> 00:24:22.920 But for me, the cynic in me, and I'm sorry 383 00:24:22.960 --> 00:24:25.599 I have to be so cynical when dealing with this case, 384 00:24:26.160 --> 00:24:31.079 but the track record has made it so so it 385 00:24:31.119 --> 00:24:33.319 looks to me like this is a loophole that she 386 00:24:33.480 --> 00:24:36.559 left in there so that the professors could still continue 387 00:24:36.599 --> 00:24:39.400 to rake in the dough, while the university at the 388 00:24:39.440 --> 00:24:42.279 same time could say, well, look, we have these guidelines 389 00:24:42.279 --> 00:24:44.839 in place. We're not involved in that. We didn't know 390 00:24:44.920 --> 00:24:47.640 anything about it, so it was kind of a you know, 391 00:24:47.759 --> 00:24:56.200 wink wink, nudge nudge kind of deal in particular, Oh 392 00:24:56.480 --> 00:24:59.480 past that excuse me, because from the start, Epstein was 393 00:24:59.559 --> 00:25:04.839 constantly engage with PED and with others through PED. And 394 00:25:04.880 --> 00:25:11.599 that's the program on evolutionary dynamics. That's the the way 395 00:25:11.640 --> 00:25:13.960 that they talk about it, you know, when they abbreviate it, 396 00:25:13.960 --> 00:25:20.200 it's called the PED. According to a letter that Martin Nowak, 397 00:25:20.440 --> 00:25:23.960 the ped's academic director, sent to administrators when the center 398 00:25:24.079 --> 00:25:28.359 was founded, Harvard's then president Lawrence H. Summers. Huh that 399 00:25:28.480 --> 00:25:31.400 name sounds familiar, doesn't It got Epstein to pay the 400 00:25:31.519 --> 00:25:35.519 rent for ped's office not on Harvard's campus, but in 401 00:25:35.559 --> 00:25:42.200