New documents show that the M.I.T. Media Lab was aware of Jeffrey Epstein’s status as a convicted sex offender, and that Epstein directed contributions to the lab far exceeding the amounts M.I.T. has publicly admitted.
Reporter Ronan Farrow joined Boston Public Radio to discuss his latest investigation for The New Yorker, in which he unveils a broad effort to conceal the Media Lab's relationship with Epstein.
"There was both a far larger scale of relationships with Jeffrey epstein, consisting of donations directly from Epstein that were anonymized and other contacts with Epstein, other billionaires, that were also anonymized," said Farrow. "Secondarily, we found there was a much deeper and more concerted 'cover up,' in the words of some of the whistle-blowers I spoke to."
Farrow's reporting uncovered that Epstein served as an intermediary between the lab and other wealthy donors, soliciting millions of dollars from individuals including Bill Gates and investor Leon Black, and that some people involved in the Media Lab had voiced concerns about its relationship with Epstein.
"There were so many anonymized secret references to Epstein and his contacts at the lab that they started to refer to him as 'Voldemort,' or 'He who must not be named,'" said Farrow, referring to the character from "Harry Potter."
Despite the Media Lab's efforts to keep its relationship with Epstein a secret, Farrow said he believes members of the broader MIT administration must have had some knowledge.
"It certainly seems to indicate they had some knowledge," said Farrow. "We have evidence that Jeffrey Epstein was listed as being disqualified from contact with MIT and their donor database, by the end they were accepting all this money and it appears part rt of that process is basically they decided to un-disqualify him, which would not be a unilateral Media Lab decision, that would involve the central fundraising office as well."
After Farrow's piece was published, Media Lab director Joi Ito resigned from MIT, and the university released a statement calling for an immediate, thorough and independent investigation.
Ronan Farrow is a contributing writer to The New Yorker and the author of the forthcoming book “ Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators.” His reporting for The New Yorker won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for public service.
