Read on Twitter
THREAD: Harvard's report on links with Jeffrey Epstein has eye-catching details on Epstein's facilitation of gifts to scientists from billionaire investor Leon Black.
Report: https://ogc.harvard.edu/files/ogc/files/report_concerning_jeffrey_e._epsteins_connections_to_harvard_university.pdf
My prior reporting on Epstein and Black: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/peteraldhous/jeffrey-epstein-science-donations-apologies-statements
Report: https://ogc.harvard.edu/files/ogc/files/report_concerning_jeffrey_e._epsteins_connections_to_harvard_university.pdf
My prior reporting on Epstein and Black: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/peteraldhous/jeffrey-epstein-science-donations-apologies-statements
Harvard decided it would accept no more funds from Epstein after his 2008 conviction for sex offenses. But Epstein later helped get $7 million from Black to mathematical biologist Martin Nowak and $2 million from Black to geneticist George Church.
https://ogc.harvard.edu/files/ogc/files/report_concerning_jeffrey_e._epsteins_connections_to_harvard_university.pdf
https://ogc.harvard.edu/files/ogc/files/report_concerning_jeffrey_e._epsteins_connections_to_harvard_university.pdf
Nowak and Church were high on Epstein's list of favored scientists. Here they are on Epstein's private island. Photo metadata indicates this was March 2007, months after the New York Times revealed the charges faced by Epstein.
https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/03/us/03epstein.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/03/us/03epstein.html
Epstein’s accountant and other staff acted as intermediaries for Black. They ensured that letters accompanying the donations included language permitting Nowak to use the money to pay rent on the offices of his Program for Evolutionary Dynamics.
https://ogc.harvard.edu/files/ogc/files/report_concerning_jeffrey_e._epsteins_connections_to_harvard_university.pdf
https://ogc.harvard.edu/files/ogc/files/report_concerning_jeffrey_e._epsteins_connections_to_harvard_university.pdf
In 2015, Epstein helped Nowak secure $1.5 million from the Templeton Foundation. Templeton wanted another donor to provide matching funds. Nowak had that money from Black, but Epstein's foundation Enhanced Education wrote a letter saying that it intended fund to the project.
In the final report to Templeton on the project, Nowak's program again claimed that additional support had come from Enhanced Education. The report describes these claims as false. (Nowak told me previously the money he had from Epstein was spent by about 2007.)
Black's representative told the Harvard investigation: "The gifts made in support of Professor Church’s and Professor Nowak’s research were made by Mr. Black. None of the funds were provided by Mr. Epstein and no attempt was made to conceal the source of these gifts."
Where Epstein's money/influence ends and Black's begins remains confusing. In 2015, Epstein's foundation Gratitude America received $10 million from a company at the address of Black's family investment firm https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6346693-Gratitude-America-2015-990.html#document/p19/a520835
I found blurry boundaries between Epstein and Black in funding for physicist Lawrence Krauss at Arizona State U. One accounting record listed Epstein's employer as “Leon D. Black, Enhanced Education.” https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6346709-Origins-Records-Epstein-Black.html
Epstein had his own office at Nowak's program, was given security codes and cards for access, and held meetings there. These pictures from 2012 meeting with luminaries including David Gergen of the Kennedy School and Eric Lander of the Broad Institute. https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6346698-2012-Meeting-Martin-Nowak-s-Office.html
Yes, Leon Black was also at that meeting. https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6346698-2012-Meeting-Martin-Nowak-s-Office.html
Epstein's publicist asked Nowak to feature a full page on Epstein on his program's website. Nowak agreed to do so. Here's the archived site.
https://web.archive.org/web/20191123092456/http://ped.fas.harvard.edu/people/friends/Jeffrey_Epstein.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20191123092456/http://ped.fas.harvard.edu/people/friends/Jeffrey_Epstein.html
This looks bad for Martin Nowak: The report repeatedly mentions "possible violations of Harvard policies" when describing his actions. He has been placed on leave. https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2020/5/2/epstein-review-nowak-leave/
I've asked Nowak and Church for comment. No replies yet.
Church just replied, referring me to this earlier interview for comments on Epstein: https://www.statnews.com/2019/08/05/citing-nerd-tunnel-vision-biologist-george-church-apologizes-for-contacts-with-jeffrey-epstein/
He said the Harvard report's description of Black funding "seems accurate," and said he had not visited Epstein's island after March 2007 meeting on pre-biotic chemistry.
He said the Harvard report's description of Black funding "seems accurate," and said he had not visited Epstein's island after March 2007 meeting on pre-biotic chemistry.
