Lawmakers Urge Criminal Inquiry Into Former Bard President Over Epstein Email
Rep. Jamie Raskin called for a criminal investigation into former Bard College president Leon Botstein after congressional investigators found an email from Botstein to Jeffrey Epstein. The demand was disclosed on Oct. 7, 2026.
Raskin, the ranking member (the top Democrat) on the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, acted with Democratic Rep. Madeleine Dean. The two sent a letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel about the Botstein-Epstein evidence, according to the committee announcement House Judiciary Democrats.
The email came from Botstein's then-Bard account, president@bard.edu. Its text read: "Is [Jane Doe] for me, or are you keeping her for yourself" The Guardian.
Investigators connect that message to a meeting in May 2014. Epstein sent Jane Doe to meet Botstein ostensibly so Botstein could assess her musical talents. Raskin described Botstein's question about whether the young woman was "for me, or are you keeping her for yourself" as "startling."
Botstein has resigned from all Bard-affiliated positions. That includes his professorship and roles in Bard's music programs. Members of the executive committee of Bard's board of trustees voted unanimously to accept the resignation.
Bard board chairman Brandon Weber said Bard was undertaking a full review of the allegations in Raskin's letter and cooperating with the committee's investigation. The college reported the resignation on Oct. 7, 2026.
Botstein led Bard College for 50 years before recently stepping down as president. He had submitted his retirement as president effective June 30, 2026. That submission followed the conclusion of Bard's review. His current term as president expires on June 30, 2026.
Botstein stated that "any assertion that he knew of or was involved in Epstein's criminal behavior is wrong."
The broader context here is how the institutions handle this type of case. Congress can uncover documents and send questions to the executive branch, much like a tip to detectives, but it cannot itself file criminal charges. A referral letter to the Justice Department and the FBI asks those agencies to decide whether legal basis, what lawyers call predication, exists for a criminal inquiry. A college board's pledge to cooperate is about governance. It preserves records, limits institutional liability, and signals to accreditors, donors, and faculty that oversight is working, even while the underlying facts remain contested and under investigation.
