Jeffrey Epstein, the late disgraced financier and convicted sex offender, paid $150,000 to Leon Botstein and transferred $270,000 between accounts for Noam Chomsky, two prominent academics. Chomsky stated that their meetings primarily revolved around political and academic discussions, while Botstein met with Epstein to secure funds for Bard College. Chomsky confirmed receiving a $270,000 transfer from an Epstein-linked account in 2018, stating that it involved rearranging his funds and seeking assistance from Epstein for a financial matter related to his first marriage. Botstein previously acknowledged Epstein's unsolicited donations of $75,000 to Bard College in 2011, but the 2016 payments were not recorded as donations until The Wall Street Journal journalists questioned it.