A newly released set of US government documents has revealed an email exchange between US thinker Noam Chomsky and Jeffrey Epstein, months before the latter’s arrest on child-trafficking charges, suggesting a closer relationship between the financier and the prominent left-wing academic than previously understood.
The release of hundreds of pages of records, released in response to a congressional demand for greater transparency, includes emails and memos that appear to reflect a direct transactional relationship.
Who is Noam Chomsky?
Noam Chomsky, an American linguist, philosopher and political theorist, is widely regarded as the “father of modern linguistics” and among the most influential intellectuals of the 20th and 21st centuries. Chomsky is recognized worldwide as one of the most quoted public intellectuals and has been a critic of American foreign policy, capitalism, media propaganda (Manufacturing Consent), imperialism and power structures, and has often advocated liberal socialist ideas.
What is Chomsky’s most famous book?
Chomsky is the author of many influential books such as Syntactic Structures (1957), Aspects of the Theory of Syntax, Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media, The Triangle of Fate: The United States, Israel and the Palestinians, Who Rules the World?, The Myth of American Idealism: How US Foreign Policy Threatens the World, and others.
What is controversial about Noam Chomsky?
A recent batch of documents from the US Department of Justice’s investigation into Jeffrey Epstein has revealed more details about Chomsky’s long-term friendship and communications with Epstein.
According to AFP, the emails show that Chomsky privately expressed sympathy for Jeffrey Epstein over what he called the “horrible way” the media treated the late sex offender, advising him in a 2019 email to keep a low profile and avoid media “vultures”.
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The exchange, revealed in a newly released set of US government documents, took place months before Epstein’s arrest on child-trafficking charges and suggests a closer relationship between the financier and the prominent left-wing academic than previously understood.
Chomsky and Epstein emails
According to a report from The GuardianChomsky’s association with Epstein gave him opportunities for joint vacations and access to well-known figures in Epstein’s circle.
For example, after emails revealed plans to meet with the Chomskys in 2016, Epstein wrote to Chomsky: “Enjoy yourself… (as) always. Come to New York or the Caribbean? Enjoy the food.”
“Me too, very much,” Chomsky said in response, adding, “Valeria is always interested in New York. I really fantasize about a Caribbean island.”
The Guardian reported that at another point that year, Epstein—a Brooklyn native—discussed being “free anytime” to meet with Chomsky in New York because “everyone in town will be gone but us. Separate yourself from Woody. Maybe we can do it again.”
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Chomsky replied that it would be “great” to have dinner with Epstein and “the Allens”.
It was not clear whether the emails involved film director Woody Allen and his wife Soon-Yi Previn. However, there is reason to believe that it was Allen who was largely ostracized in the industry following allegations by his daughter Dylan Farrow that he sexually assaulted her in 1992 – a claim he has repeatedly denied. The Guardian reported.
Later in 2016, Epstein was informed by email that genetic testing kits from 23 and Me “will be delivered to Woody and Soon Yi”. In the spring of 2017, emails showed that Shuliak had arranged for Chomsky to send some of the same tests, again courtesy of Epstein, The Guardian he remarked.
In an email exchange in August 2015, Epstein advised Chomsky, a renowned linguist and social scientist, to fly to Greece only if he felt well, joking that he had previously had to send a plane for another “leftist friend” to see a doctor in New York, the AP reported.
The exchange, which also touched on academic discussions of currency collapse warning signs, behavioral science models and big data, included Epstein offering his residences for Chomsky’s use.
“Of course you are welcome to use the New York apt or revisit New Mexico in your new free time,” Epstein wrote, according to the AP.
Chomsky sympathized with Epstein
Responding to an email from Epstein asking for advice on how to deal with his “rotten press”, Chomsky condemned the “terrible way you are being treated in the press and in public”, according to AFP.
“What the vultures very much want is a public response, which will then provide a public opening for an onslaught of vitriolic attacks, many of which are just publicity seekers or lunatics of all kinds,” added Chomsky, now 97.
“This is especially true now with the hysteria that has developed around the abuse of women, which has reached the point where even challenging the allegations is a crime worse than murder.”
The exchange took place in February 2019. Epstein was arrested later that year in July and was found dead in his New York prison cell in August. Previously released Epstein records indicated that Chomsky remained in contact with him even after Epstein’s 2008 conviction for prostitution of a minor.
Chomsky’s view of Jeffrey Epstein
Chomsky defended the relationship, telling the Harvard Crimson in 2023, “We knew he had been convicted and served his time, which means he’s re-entering society according to prevailing norms.”
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Other newly released emails point to the depth of Chomsky’s social ties with Epstein and a planned meeting with Steve Bannon, a former adviser to US President Donald Trump who is seen as the mastermind behind his rise to power.
wife of Noam Chomsky
Chomsky’s wife, Valeria, writes, “Jeffrey is a very dear friend and we look forward to meeting you” in a 2019 email to Bannon copied by Epstein.
Epstein was charged with sex trafficking in 2019 and died in prison by suicide a month later. His crimes, influential contacts and death behind bars have since fueled widespread conspiracy theories and attracted intense scrutiny from online investigators looking for evidence of a cover-up.
(With input from agencies)
