FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2019 The Boston Globe Nation/Region A
the lab because of the dona-
tions.
Epstein,who was convicted
in 2008of procuring an under-
age girl for prostitution, was
founddeadthis monthin his
cell at a federal detentionfacili-
ty in Manhattan, wherehe was
held on newly filed charges of
sex traffickingof minors.A
medicalexaminerruledhis
death a suicideby hanging.
For decades, Epstein nur-
tured a reputation as a “science
philanthropist” and gathered a
coterie of biologists, mathema-
ticians, physicists, and artificial
intelligence researchers around
him.He feted themon his pri-
vate islandand in his lavish
homes,and fundedtheir re-
search.
The scientists were among
the most prominent people in
their fields and includedpro-
fessorsat Harvard and MIT.
The decisions of MIT faculty
regarding monetary gifts are
“always subject to longstanding
Institute processesand princi-
ples,” according to Reif’s letter.
“To my great regret despite
following the processesthat
have served MIT well for many
years,in this instancewe have
made a mistake of judgment,”
he said.
Reif indicated that all of the
monetary gifts fromEpstein
occurredover the spanof about
20 years and wenteither to the
MIT Media Lab or mechanical
engineering professor Seth
Lloyd.
Last week,Joi Ito, the media
lab’s director, apologized for his
connectionsto Epstein and on
Thursday, Lloyd alsoapolo-
gized.
In a post on Medium, Lloyd
said he met Epstein at a dinner
for scientists and their support-
ers in 2004 and discussed sci-
entific questions duringEp-
stein’s visits to Harvard Univer-
sity “over the next few years.”
Epstein’s foundation, he said,
gave him a grant to support his
research.
Earlier this summer, federal
uMIT
ContinuedfromPageA
prosecutors charged Epstein,
66, withsexually abusing doz-
ens of girls between 2002 and
2005.The indictmentrenewed
attention on how Epstein had
escapedsevere punishment in
an investigationof sexual
abusemorethana decade ago
in Florida.
Epstein had avoided federal
criminal charges in 2008 after
prosecutors brokered a widely
criticizeddeal that allowedhim
to pleadguilty to state charges
of solicitation of prostitution
froma minor and serve 13
months in jail.
Lloyd, the MITprofessor,
said he visited Epstein during
his prison term in Florida and
that after his release, he re-
sumedattendingdiscussions
Epstein convened with other
scientists and accepted two
grants fromhis foundation, one
in 2012and another in 2017.
“These wereprofessionalas
well as moral failings,” Lloyd
said in his apology. “The job of
a scientist is to look for the
truth,and the job of a teacher
is to help people to empower
themselves.I failedto do my
job on both counts.”
Ito, the MITMedia Lab di-
rector, has acknowledged that
he had invitedEpstein to the
Media Lab, traveled to the fi-
nancier’s homes,and accepted
money from himfor the re-search centerand Ito’s own in-
vestmentsafter Epstein’s con-
viction.
Last week, Ito said he met
Epsteinin 2013through a
trusted business friend.
The media lab is known for
developing roboticprosthetics
to mimicthe humangait and
launching the online news gi-
ant Buzzfeed,amongotherini-
tiatives.
Amidthe fallout from the
lab’s connectionsto Epstein,
two researchershave cut ties
with the researchcenter. J. Na-
thanMatias, a visiting scholar
at the lab, said in a Wednesday
statementthat he was “pro-
foundlydisappointedin the de-
cisionsthat Joi made,and that
the Lab somehowallowedto
happen.”
That statement cameafter
EthanZuckerman,director of
the lab’s Center for Civic Media,
told MIT officials of his plans to
resign in protest over the lab’s
ties to Epstein.
“I am ashamedof my insti-
tutiontoday and starting the
hardworkof figuring out how
to leave the Lab while taking
care of my students and staff,”
Zuckerman wrote in a note that
was obtained by the Globe.
Reifsaidmembers of the
MITcommunity werestrug-
glingwiththe fact somere-
searchers had accepted moneyfromEpstein.
“Becausethe accusations
against Jeffrey Epstein are so
shocking, it can be difficult to
maintaina fair understanding
aboutwhat individuals at MIT
could have been expected to
knowat the time,but I hope we
can offer these members of our
community the reassuranceof
our compassionate under-
standing,’’ Reif said.
Thursday night, BethAnn
McLaughlin, the founder of the
nonprofitMeTooSTEM,said
MIT still needs to address the
culture that allowedthe relation-
ships with Epstein to develop.
McLaughlin,who won last
year’s DisobedienceAward
from the Media Lab for her
workon sexual harassmentin
science, said her organization
plans to cometo MITin the
coming weeks to talk to those
affected by such issues.
“I don’t see anyonefired,”
McLaughlin said. “I see them
saying‘we have a system in
place.’ They have a failed sys-
tem.”ZoeGreenberg of theGlobe
staff contributed to thisreport,
andmaterialfromTheNew
York Timeswasused.Danny
McDonaldcanbe reached at
daniel.mcdonald@
globe.com. Followhimon
Twitter@Danny__McDonald.ByAziPaybarah and
WilliamK. Rashbaum
NEWYORKTIMES
NEWYORK — The warden
and the headof the federal Bu-
reau of Prisonshave been reas-
signed. Two employeesaccused
of sleeping on the job and falsi-
fying recordshave beenplaced
on administrative leave.
Now, roughly15 employees
at the Metropolitan Correction-
al Center whereJeffrey Epstein
killedhimself in his jail cell
have beensubpoenaedas the
criminalinvestigation into the
events around his suicide inten-
sifies, according to a prison offi-
cial and a person with knowl-
edge of the matter.
The subpoenas,issuedin re-
cent days by federal prosecutors
in Manhattan, are the latest
sign of the heightened scrutiny
over the suicide of the high-pro-
file detaineeat the chronically
understaffed federal jail.
The US attorney general,
William Barr, whose Justice De-
partmentoversees the Bureau
of Prisons, has complained
about “serious irregularities at
this facility.” On Wednesday he
wentfurther, telling reporters
in Dallas,“Unfortunately, there
have been somedelays because
a numberof the witnesses were
not cooperative.”
The suicideof Epstein, 66, a
wealthy financier who had been
accusedof sexuallyabusing
dozens of girls, has put pressure
on Barr to explain how such a
prominent defendant was left
unsupervised longenoughto
hang himself.
It was unclearwhichem-
ployees had received subpoenas,
but Barr said Wednesday that a
number of witnessesat the jail
wererequiringunionrepresen-
tation and lawyersbefore they
would agreeto interviews.
Eric Young, presidentof the
union that represents federal
prisonworkers, disputedBarr’sclaimthat jail employees had
beenuncooperative.Hesaid
the Justice Department had
beenunwilling to grant immu-
nity to workers.
“The Justice Department
wouldlike employeesto waive
away their minimumconstitu-
tional right to representation,”
Young said in an interview
Thursday. “That’s what they
consider to be a cooperative
employee.”
The two staff members in
the special housing unit where
Epstein was held — 9 South —
are accused of falsely recording
in a log that they had checked
on Epstein every 30 minutes, as
was required.But Epstein, who
had beenremoved fromsuicide
watch after apparently trying to
kill himselfon July 23, had not
been checked on for aboutthree
hours, several law enforcement
and prison officials with knowl-
edge of the matter have said.
The subpoenas seeking testi-
mony from the jail employees
are part of an inquiry being
conducted by the FBI, prosecu-
tors with the SouthernDistrict
of New York, and investigators
from the New York office of the
Department of Justice’s inspec-
tor general, said a personwith
knowledge of the investigation,
whoasked to remain anony-
mousbecause he was not au-
thorized to speak on the matter.
It was unclearwhether the sub-
poenas also soughtrecordsor
other materials.
The New York City medical
examinerdeterminedthat Ep-
stein’s Aug. 10 death was a sui-
cide by hanging.
The Justice Department has
announcedhigh-level staffing
changes since Epstein’s suicide.
The acting director of the Bu-
reau of Prisons, Hugh Hurwitz,
was reassignedMonday, and the
wardenof the Manhattan jail,
LamineN’Diaye, was transferred
to an office in Philadelphia.About 15 workersat jail subpoenaedas inquiry growsMIT apologizes for ties to Epstein
ERIKJACOBS/NEWYORKTIMES/FILE 2010
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