Leon Botstein

From The Daily Catch, this is The Catch-Up, and I'm publisher Walter Mullin.

For more than half a century, Leon Botstein led Bard College.

In June, he retired from the presidency amid an uproar over his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

But he remained attached to Bard through his professorship and music programs, and he continued to occupy the president's residence.

Last week, that changed.

Botstein resigned from all remaining Bard-affiliated positions after two members of Congress called for a federal investigation into his possible involvement in Epstein's abuse.

They also raised allegations about sexual misconduct and the handling of complaints at Bard.

Botstein denies wrongdoing, including authorship of a disputed email at the center of a congressional request.

Over across the pond, the UK Telegraph is reporting that Democrats here in the US have officially started identifying individuals whose names were previously hidden in the official Epstein files.

Leon Botstein, the former president of Bard College, is the first significant figure to be named in this new push for accountability.

This naming of names comes as frustration grows within the House Judiciary Committee regarding lack of action from federal authorities.

To that point, Democratic lawmaker Jamie Raskin is calling for a criminal investigation on Botstein after congressional investigations uncovered an email from Botstein to Epstein, in which Botstein apparently asked if a young woman was, quote, "Oh, Jesus Christ, for me, or are you keeping her for yourself?"

Um, if we find her GoFundMe, we will put it in the show notes.

And now to our recurring segment, File Fallout, where we list what's happened to people in Epstein's network in this past week.

Bard College has accepted the resignation of the aforementioned longtime leader Leon Botstein.

It happened last week after federal lawmakers questioned Botstein's connections to Jeffrey Epstein, and that departure coincided with a push from advocates to reform campus sexual assault reporting there at Bard and student safety laws in the wake of gang rape allegations at Cornell.

What's up everyone, and welcome to another episode of The Epstein Chronicles.

Over the years, we've talked about a gentleman named Leon Botstein quite a bit, and it was always confusing how he wasn't let go and removed from his position.

But now that's all changed, and that's because a new email from the Epstein files has emerged, and not only does it make Botstein look bad, it makes him look like he's a co-conspirator.

Whenever you're asking Jeffrey Epstein if Jane Doe is for him or you, probably the kind of email that's going to raise the suspicion of people who know that Jeffrey Epstein was not working alone, and that Jeffrey Epstein certainly was distributing these women to people that, you know, he was looking to get closer to, or people that were part of his inner circle.

And it wasn't widespread, right? It wasn't Heidi Fleiss, but there were certain people that were brought even closer to the monster known as Jeffrey Epstein.

And according to the email, it looks like Leon Botstein might have been one of them.

So today we have an article from The Guardian and the headline, "Leon Botstein Resigns From Bard Roles As Key Democrat Demands Investigation Into Epstein Links." This article was authored by Stephanie Kirchgaessner.

"A powerful Democratic lawmaker has called for a criminal investigation into former Bard College president Leon Botstein after congressional investigators uncovered an email from Botstein to accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein in which he says that Botstein asked if a young woman 'was for me' or 'are you keeping her for yourself?'" And listen, even if you want to be generous to Mr. Botstein, how do you explain that email? How do you explain what he's saying in that email? "Oh, is this one for you or is this one for me?" Sounds to me like somebody who has tasted the poisoned fruit, if you will, right? Somebody that's engaged in the abuse with Jeffrey Epstein.

The next couple of stories, uh, you know, actually, I-- we are very close to seven o'clock, so I wanted to skip ahead to this story right here.

Leon Botstein, he ran a place called Bard College for the last fifty-one years.

Last night, Leon Botstein resigned from every remaining position that he held at this college.

This is only a couple of hours after the House Judiciary Committee gave information to the college that had previously been covered up.

It was from Jeffrey Epstein's emails.

He resigned the same day it arrived in the hands of the people that were the employers of him at this university.

And guess what? Now this information is at the Department of Justice.

Leon Botstein may likely be someone who is prosecuted in the very near future.

The next couple of stories, uh, you know, actually, I-- we are very close to seven o'clock, so I wanted to skip ahead to this story right here.

Leon Botstein, he ran a place called Bard College for the last fifty-one years.

Last night, Leon Botstein resigned from every remaining position that he held at this college.

This is only a couple of hours after the House Judiciary Committee gave information to the college that had previously been covered up.

It was from Jeffrey Epstein's emails.

He resigned the same day it arrived in the hands of the people that were the employers of him at this university.

And guess what? Now this information is at the Department of Justice.

Leon Botstein may likely be someone who is prosecuted in the very near future.