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Several high-profile Harvard affiliates were among those who sent birthday letters, some with sexually suggestive messages, to disgraced billionaire and sex offender Jeffrey E. Epstein in 2003, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Harvard Law School professor Alan M. Dershowitz and longtime Harvard donor Leslie H. Wexner allegedly sent letters to Epstein, who died in prison in 2019. A now-deceased Harvard economics professor, whose identity was not disclosed, was also among the senders.
The Journal reported Thursday that Ghislaine Maxwell, who helped Epstein operate a sex ring of underage girls out of his Florida home, collected letters from President Donald Trump and dozens of other associates for an album in celebration of Epstein’s 50th birthday.
Trump vehemently denied that he wrote the letter allegedly signed by him — which contained a drawing of a naked woman and bawdy, typewritten text — and brought a libel lawsuit Friday afternoon against the two reporters who authored the Journal’s story. Also named in the suit are Rupert Murdoch and his company News Corp, which owns the Journal and the paper’s publisher, Dow Jones.
The Journal reported that Wexner’s letter contained a drawing of what appeared to be a woman’s breasts, tacked onto a short message: “I wanted to get you what you want… so here it is….” Wexner, whose money was once managed by Epstein, could not be reached for comment. He has previously said he “severed all ties with Epstein in 2007 and never spoke with him again.”
Dershowitz allegedly sent Epstein a letter with a mock “Vanity Unfair” magazine cover that featured fake headlines, including “Who was Jack the Ripper? Was it Jeffrey Epstein?” He joked that he had steered the magazine article’s focus away from Epstein to Bill Clinton.
Dershowitz, a famous attorney who represented Epstein during his trial, told The Crimson that he “very possibly” sent Epstein a birthday card but had “no recollection of it.” Dershowitz added that he didn’t know Epstein had committed any crimes at the time and that he “never renewed a personal relationship” with Epstein after serving as his lawyer.
Reporters from the Journal reviewed the album containing Epstein’s birthday letters but did not publish images. The Crimson has not reviewed any of its contents.
The alleged letters by Harvard affiliates are just the latest in a string of deep connections between Epstein and the University. Epstein donated millions of dollars to Harvard, funded an academic program on evolutionary dynamics, and forged close relationships with the University’s top brass.
At one point, Epstein counted several top Harvard professors — including former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers, Psychology professor Stephen M. Kosslyn, and Henry A. Rosovsky, the former Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean — as friends. (All of them have since renounced their relationships with Epstein.)
Another Harvard professor — mathematician and biologist Martin A. Nowak — was placed on paid administrative leave over Epstein’s donations to a program Nowak directed.
The Journal did not respond to inquiries from The Crimson about the identity of the deceased economics professor. Rosovsky, who died in 2022, was an economist.
Though Epstein was not a Harvard alum or direct affiliate, he gave generously to the University. In 2019, then-Harvard President Lawrence S. Bacow said the University had received at least $8.9 million in donations from Epstein between 1998 and 2007. Harvard had spent most of the gift by 2019, and the remaining balance of $186,000 was donated to organizations that support victims of human trafficking and sexual assault.
Epstein also “facilitated,” but did not contribute funds to, the construction of Harvard Hillel’s building. It was previously believed that Epstein had helped finance the building, but former Hillel Executive Director Rabbi Jonah C. Steinberg said in 2019 that Epstein himself never donated the money.
The Journal’s article was published as Trump comes under intense pressure over Attorney General Pam Bondi’s announcement that she would not unseal certain files in Epstein’s case. Trump supporters have long demanded that the government reveal the so-called Epstein files.
—Staff writer William C. Mao can be reached at william.mao@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @williamcmao.
—Staff writer Veronica H. Paulus can be reached at veronica.paulus@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @VeronicaHPaulus.
