Chomsky accuses Wall Street Journal of engaging in a ‘deceitful hit piece’
Former Massachusetts Institute of Technology linguistics professor Noam Chomsky came under fire over the weekend after a report disclosed that he met with disgraced financier and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein in 2015.
The Wall Street Journal, in an exclusive news report published on Sunday, said it obtained Epstein’s private calendar, which included numerous meetings with high-profile individuals such as Chomsky and others.
“First response is that it is none of your business. Or anyone’s. Second is that I knew him and we met occasionally,” Chomsky, who recently has been critical of NATO’s and the United States’ involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war, told the WSJ in response to the calendar’s revelations.
In an email to The Epoch Times on Monday, Chomsky said that “when I wrote a personal letter to the [WSJ] reporter, in response to her inquiries, I ended by saying that from experience I assumed that this would be the kind of deceitful hit piece favored by the editors.”
“Turns out I was right. Plenty of deceit, but far more interesting is omission: e.g., omission of the demonstration of the dedication of the [J]ournal not just to donations by leading criminals, but to honoring them,” he said, describing that as “far more extreme.”
In March 2015, Epstein scheduled a meeting with several academics, including Chomsky, who said they met multiple times at Harvard University professor Martin Nowak’s institute to discuss neuroscience.
The paper reported that two months later, Epstein scheduled a flight with Chomsky and his wife for a dinner with director Woody Allen and his wife, Soon-Yi Previn, famously also the adopted daughter of Allen’s former partner Mia Farrow. The academic said that he discussed politics and academics in his meetings with Epstein, and Epstein donated some $850,000 between 2002 and 2017 to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology—although MIT later rejected the donations.
At another point in 2015, Chomsky was also scheduled to fly with Epstein to dine at Epstein’s townhouse in Manhattan, the paper reported, citing Epstein’s calendar.
“If there was a flight, which I doubt, it would have been from Boston to New York, 30 minutes,” Chomsky told the WSJ. “I’m unaware of the principle that requires that I inform you about an evening spent with a great artist.”
“What was known about Jeffrey Epstein was that he had been convicted of a crime and had served his sentence,” Chomsky also told the outlet about his meetings. “According to U.S. laws and norms, that yields a clean slate.”
Epstein, accused of sex trafficking underage girls, was found dead in a Manhattan jail cell as he awaited trial. He had an infamous “black book” that contained flight logs of people who flew on his private jet or to his private island, including current and former politicians, billionaires, actors, academics, and other celebrities.
After Epstein’s death, there has been widespread speculation about whether he died from suicide or if he was murdered. A forensic pathologist and former New York City Medical Examiner publicly questioned the official narrative around Epstein’s death in early 2020, saying the wounds around his neck are “more indicative of a homicide” rather than suicide.
In other comments on Sunday, Chomsky told Fox News that the WSJ’s “reporting covered 2015-16, when what was known about Mr. Epstein was that he had been sentenced for a crime, served his sentence, which wiped the slate clean according to US law and norms.”
“The gossip column chose not to publish the extensive information they have about far worse criminals who not only donate to MIT and other institutions but, far more serious of course, are greatly honored by them,” Chomsky added.
CIA Director Visit
The Wall Street Journal, citing Epstein’s calendar, said CIA Director William Burns met with Epstein at least once when he was an Obama administration official. The intelligence agency later confirmed that Burns was introduced to Epstein by a mutual friend in Washington, although Burns said he didn’t know much about the disgraced financier.
“The director did not know anything about him, other than he was introduced as an expert in the financial services sector and offered general advice on transition to the private sector,” CIA spokeswoman Tammy Kupperman Thorp said. “The director does not recall any further contact, including receiving a ride to the airport. They had no relationship.”
The calendar also included names such as Bard College President Leon Botstein, Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Noam Chomsky, and Kathryn Ruemmler, who was a White House lawyer during the Obama administration, according to the Wall Street Journal’s report. Those individuals mainly said they met with Epstein due to his wealth and connections, with some saying they were seeking donations.
“I regret ever knowing Jeffrey Epstein,” Ruemmler said, reported the paper.