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Jeffrey Epstein and the New York Academy of Art: Inside the Financial Ties · The Epstein Chronicles

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Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
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Epstein Chronicles. All the way back in twenty nineteen, twenty twenty,
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Maria Farmer came out and told everybody what was going
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on at the New York Academy of Art with Jeffrey
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Epstein and her experience. Well, at the time, the New
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York Academy of Art and Eileen Guggenheim denied everything, said
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everything was just a big lie and that Maria was
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just telling falsehoods. Well, it turns out that Maria was
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right once again. And now the New York Academy of
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Art is going to give away all the money that
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was donated to them by Jeffrey Epstein over the years,
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and they're going to start reviewing their policies about philanthropy
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and don her engagement. Now, remember Maria came out and
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said what she said all these years ago, ninety five,
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ninety six, put everybody on blast. And for all these years,
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the New York Academy of Art, they knew what Jeffrey
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Epstein was, They knew exactly the kind of scumbag he was,
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and they knew that he had reach in their academy,
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and they didn't care. But now now that people are
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paying attention and that this story is breaking in a
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way that they never thought possible. Well, now they're going
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to donate the money that Jeffrey Epstein gave them over
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the years. My opinion, too little, too late. You should
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have addressed this when Maria brought it to your attention.
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This article was published by The New York Times and
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the headline New York Academy of Art gives away money
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donated by Jeffrey Epstein. This article was authored by Dion Searcy.
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The New York Academy of Art, where a former student
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was among the first to complain to authorities about the
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behavior of Jeffrey Epstein, announced on Friday that it was
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giving away money that mister Epstein had donated after new
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revelations about his involvement were made public. Yo, this isn't new.
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None of this is new. You just weren't paying attention.
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You were ignoring it. And the New York Academy of Art,
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they most certainly knew what was up. There was a
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petition about the New York Academy of Art, so the
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whole entire we had no idea thing. That's bs they knew.
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They didn't care. And that's because there wasn't an uproar.
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Then there were only a few of us demanding justice.
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But now that everybody has come around and they see
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exactly what this is now, the New York Academy of
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Art wants to act. Now, the New York Academy of
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Art wants to be responsible. Well, too late, because you
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already did what you did, and you ignored what you ignored.
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Files recently released by the Department of Justice showed that
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some of mister Epstein's ties to the Academy, which was
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co founded by Andy Warhol, were more extensive than previously known,
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with involvement years after he had been investigated in Florida
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in connection with the sexual abuse of underage girls. It
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was all well known. Maybe if the New York Times
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was actually doing their job over the years, they would
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have known this too. But instead they were busy causing division,
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causing hatred and making everybody hate each other. And when
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they were busy doing that, these people were busy getting
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away with their crimes. The Academy said on Friday that
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it would review its policies on philanthropy and the way
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it engages with donors. The disgraced financier Pedophile, who had
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served on the academy's board in the early nineties, had
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been courted to sponsor a scholarship program, and he attended
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the academy's fundraising events, including the Tribeca Ball and take
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Home a Nude Auction? Well, isn't that fitting? Take home
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a nude auction? Say what? Now? I'm telling you folks
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that this art world is rife with criminality, and people
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like Epstein and the people around them, they use the
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high end art world to hide money. Real estate used
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to be their main vehicle. Now it's art, not crypto art,
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mark my words. Everybody knows that the Picasso isn't ever
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going to lose any value, So why not buy one
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if you have the dough to do it? And then,
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of course you can hide it. You can fudge numbers,
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and nobody is the wiser about how much you're worth,
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or how much you've spent, or most importantly, how much
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you should be taxed. That's the whole, entire point of
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all of this. In a statement emailed to students and
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alumni on Friday, the board express regret for the Academy's
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long association with mister Epstein. It also said the chair
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of the Academy's board would retire in April, a month
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earlier than expected. She should have been out a long
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time ago. Eileen Guggenheim, according to Maria, led her directly
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into the belly of the beast, and then all these
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years she was able to just keep going. How many
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other girls were led to the belly of the beast?
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That's certainly a question that should be asked. No, if
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she was so comfortable doing it with Maria, do you
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really think Maria was the only one? I highly doubt it.
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Mister Epstein was jailed for thirteen months for state prostitution
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crimes and was arrested again in twenty nineteen on federal
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charges accusing him in trafficking dozens of girls, some as
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young as fourteen, and engage in sex acts with them.
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His twenty nineteen death in jail was ruled a suicide.
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Oh well, in that case, pack it all up, folks.
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Nothing to see here. The government told us what happened.
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Why you don't believe them? What are you? Some kind
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of panikin? The academy should not have accepted contributions from him,
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allowing him to attend academy events or permitted him to
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have any connection to programs involving students or other community
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members after his criminal conduct had become known, the board
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said in its email, which admitted to serious failures in
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judgment and governance. If I was Maria, I would think
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about suing the New York Academy of Art, especially with
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them admitting it right here. We were negligent. Okay, cool,
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Now you owe me a bag. Pretty simple. The school
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plans to give sixty five nine hundred dollars to an
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organization that helps traffic girls. The Academy had already given
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away thirty thousand that mister Epstein had donated. Well, we'll
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just keep this other sixty five to nine and we'll
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have that on the stash. Nobody knows about that, so
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we don't have to report it and we don't have
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to donate it. That was the thinking, right or else
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they would have donated all of it right away. But
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instead they gave away thirty g's and they were like,
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we gave away the money Epstein gave us while pocketing
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sixty five nine typical, and please make no mistake, The
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New York Academy of Art doesn't give a shit about
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the girls who were abused. They care that they've been outed,
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just like the rest of the bombs. The New York
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Academy of Art opened in nineteen eighty two as an
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anti abstractionist school and at teaching figurative drawing when traditional
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methods had fallen out of favor. It attracted eccentrix. A
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pet Boa constrictor was kept in one office, and Scandal,
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a fiscal controller once embezzled one hundred and seventy five
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thousand dollars, and it was known for elaborate fundraising parties,
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where performances sometimes began after the shattering of a wine glass.
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It's galleys draw celebrities and socialites. Yeah, well birds of
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a feather and all right. And it makes me wonder
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if Glane thought that this Art Academy was just another
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new bile hunting ground. Remember that was what she called it.
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I have to go find some new bials for Epstein.
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So my guess is she probably used the New York
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Academy of Art as one of those destinations. In nineteen
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ninety three, Maria Farmer moved to New York to attend
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the Academy and said she first met mister Abstein at
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a gallery thesis art show for her graduation. She said,
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the dean of the academy at the time, Aileen Guggenheim,
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introduced her to mister Abstein and his longtime partner, You
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mean co conspirator, right fellow scombag fellow, child abuse her
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and bipedal serpent, That's what you mean, Layne Maxwell, and
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told her to sell them one of her paintings at
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a discount. Miss Gugenheim has said she did not recall
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such an interaction, not that it didn't happen. Right, I
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do not recall. Those words mean something. It gives you
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an out. Oh I don't recall. So later on down
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the road, if it's proven that you did meet her
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or this did go down, you can say, oh, well,
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I didn't remember at the time. Just another way for
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people to be cute with their words. Ms Farmer, when
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she was in her twenties, went on to work for
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mister Ebstein, acquiring art on his behalf and later managing
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the entrance to a townhouse that he was renovating. She
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said that he and Miss Maxwell altered her while she
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was staying with them at an estate in Ohio. Soon
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after returning to New York, in nineteen ninety six, Ms
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Farmer contacted the police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
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No action was taken by authorities at the time. And
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that's another big problem, right, because we know that that's
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true now we have the contemporaneous documentation to back it up.
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So Maria was telling the truth about contacting the FBI
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and telling them about Epstein and Maxwell. So why would
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she be lying about this again? It doesn't make sense. So,
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as far as I'm concerned, it's the New York Academy
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of Art that's doing the lying, and Maria has was
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and is telling the truth. She has said that She
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also talked about the encounter with Miss Guggenheim, who is
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now the chair of the Academy's board. Miss Farmer has
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said that Miss Guggenheim did not appear to take her
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concerns seriously. Miss Guggenheim told The New York Times in
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twenty nineteen that the details Miss Farmer shared about mister
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Epstein did not rise to a level that would require intervention.
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Oh no, not at all, especially considering he's paying you
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a ton of money. Right, Miss Guggenheim got to make
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sure that the sacred cash cow is doing all right.
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Miss Guggenheim did not immediately respond on Friday to a
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request for comment. A lawyer for miss Farmer the client comment.
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Alumni of the Academy in twenty twenty circulated a petition
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calling for more safety for students. The academy commissioned an
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internal investigation by a law firm, which interviewed Miss Guggenheim
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and others. Miss Farmer did not cooperate with the investigation.
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The firm noted, Yeah, no shit, they were trying a railroader.
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That's why if you were abused and then ignored, literally
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for decades, would you then agree to some kind of
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investigation years later just to make them look good. I
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wouldn't either, So good for Maria. According to a copy
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of the investigation, Maria Farmer had told Miss Guggenheim the
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creepiest thing happened with mister Epstein. She explained how mister
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Epstein and Miss Maxwell had called her into their bedroom
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and asked her to join them in bed, but that
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Miss Farmer freaked out and left. Don't put yourself in
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those kinds of situations, Miss Guggenheim told Miss Farmer. According
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to the report, which said Miss Farmer did not mention
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she was touched or assaulted. Don't put yourself in those
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kinds of situations. Huh, why are you wearing that dress?
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You shouldn't go out dressed like that. You're asking for it?
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Is that what Miss Guggenheim saying here. The law firm
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called Walden mocked and heron at the time the report
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was filed, noted in the report that it had previously
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represented Miss Guggenheim before investigating her. Of course, why not.
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This is what they do. They go and get these friendly,
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quote unquote outside external sources to do the investigation. But
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it's really just their friends. The law firm found a
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way evidence that Miss Guggenheim knew about any sexual abuse
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of Miss Farmer, according to the investigation. In twenty twenty,
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the Academy issued an apology to Miss Farmer and announced
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new safeguards for students. All kinds of bs. But you're apologizing,
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that's interesting. Anastasia Tarasenko, who graduated from the Academy in
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twenty seventeen, has been combing through Justice Department filings about
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mister Epstein and was troubled by new revelations that show
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Miss Guggenheim engage with mister Ebstein after his misdeeds in
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Florida were known. Well, yeah, they didn't care. How many
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times do you have to see it now? They knew
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exactly what this dude was. They just didn't care because
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he was greasing the wheels. He was given them money,
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you know, bringing people to their events, whatever it might be.
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Why should they care about some vulnerable girl who's being
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abused by their buddy. Why would they care about that?
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Fundraising is a huge part of keeping that school alive.
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Miss Garrisenko said, my concern comes from a place of
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love for the school. I want to protect the space
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and protect the students. Emails from Justice Department filings indicate
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that Miss Guggenheim was interviewed by the FBI about Miss
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Farmer's encounter with mister Epstein in two thousand and seven.
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Miss Guggenheim told agents that Miss Farmer returned from Ohio
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very upset and that she did not know the details,
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but believe Miss Farmer was hurt, possibly by a verbal
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suggestion made by Epstein. Now everything we know about Epstein,
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do you think it was a verbal suggestion or do
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you think that he actually assaulted Maria? In later years,
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mister Epstein attended the Academy's Tribeca Ball toward the studios
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and purchased artwork. It was incredibly wonderful of you to
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come back, Miss Guggenheim, wrote in a twenty twelve email
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addressed to mister Ebstein and sent through his personal assistant.
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She added, I just want you to know how much
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Russ and I and the whole school appreciate your involvement,
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because he was piecing them off. And it's a whole
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different level of scummy when you're in charge of a
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school and you put Jeffrey Epstein before the students, a
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whole lass different level of scum. Miss Guggenheim's husband, Russell
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Colgate Wilkinson, is a former chair of the Academy's board.
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In twenty thirteen, she invited mister Epstein to sponsor a
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portrait scholarship the File Show, and in March of the
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following year, mister Epstein's assistant Emailedham to assure him that
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he was on the top of the waiting list for
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the sold out Tribeca Ball, writing that Eileen Guggenheim will
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do everything she can to get you a table. Sounds
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like somebody that doesn't know him. Huh, I don't really
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know this guy, but let's get him a table. Six
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days later, mister Epstein's assistant wrote to him to say
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that a table had been secured by miss Guggenheim. Eileen
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is very happy and says she looks forward to seeing you,
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the assistant, Leslie Groff, wrote. In Friday's email announcing changes
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at the Academy, The board said it would create an
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ethics committee to review policy, including those that govern philanthropy
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and donor engagement. The email also said that miss Guggenheim
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would be stepping down from the board a month earlier
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than planned. Officials said that her resignation for this year
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had been in the works since last May. The Academy's
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website notes that she and her husband will be honored
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next month at the Tribeca Ball. They don't care. They'll
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give them all these honors and all this other stuff,
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and they'll just step down and they'll move on and
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keep living their lives. Meanwhile, the people that were abused,
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people like Maria, have to live with this shit every day.
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And the saddest part is all of this was known,
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and now they're trying to act like, you know, it's
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a big revelation, it's not. They ignored it, and now
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that all of you are so fired up, they're being
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forced to deal with it and to try and drown
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out some of the criticism of the noise. Eileen Guggenheim
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is gonna step down, But the truth is, it's not
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just Eileen Guggenheim. It's the whole facility. All the trustees
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know what's up. The whole board knows what's up, and
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they all knew what Epstein was, And the truth is
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they didn't care because for them, it's always profits over people.
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All the information that goes with this episode can be
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found in the description box.