{"id":406218,"date":"2026-02-03T20:45:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T20:45:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/406218\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T20:45:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T20:45:08","slug":"newly-released-files-shed-new-light-on-chomsky-and-epstein-relationship-noam-chomsky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/406218\/","title":{"rendered":"Newly released files shed new light on Chomsky and Epstein relationship | Noam Chomsky"},"content":{"rendered":"

The close friendship that Noam Chomsky<\/a> maintained with Jeffrey Epstein<\/a> continued being detailed extensively among millions of investigative records pertaining to the late convicted sex offender recently released by the US justice department, including Chomsky \u201cfantasizing about the Caribbean island\u201d.<\/p>\n

In Friday\u2019s tranche of the so-called Epstein files, which built upon earlier disclosures of their close social ties, there is no specific indication that the famed academic and linguist was referring to his friend\u2019s private Caribbean island where children were sexually abused. But the personal familiarity between the two men in that exchange is palpable, as it is in numerous other emails between Chomsky and Epstein aimed at planning more mundane social gatherings.<\/p>\n

There additionally was an exchange in which Chomsky wrote to Steve Bannon, the rightwing chief White House strategist during Donald Trump\u2019s first presidency, requesting an introductory meeting. \u201cLots to talk about,\u201d Chomsky wrote, adding that he had been provided Bannon\u2019s contact information by Epstein, a former friend of Trump.<\/p>\n

Former Epstein girlfriend Karyna Shuliak at one point emailed a third party whose identity was redacted that she and her boyfriend wanted to send Chomsky and his wife two genetic testing kits.<\/p>\n

Perhaps most strikingly, in late February 2019, Epstein represented to an associate that he had gotten advice from Chomsky over how to navigate \u201cthe horrible way you are being treated in the press and public\u201d. That was 11 years after Epstein had pleaded guilty to soliciting an underage girl for prostitution \u2013 and months before he would reportedly die by suicide while in federal custody awaiting sex-trafficking charges.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best way to proceed is to ignore it,\u201d Chomsky wrote, according to text signed under his first name that Epstein sent to a lawyer and publicist. \u201cThat\u2019s particularly true now with the hysteria that has developed about abuse of women, which has reached the point that even questioning a charge is a crime worse than murder.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neither Chomsky nor his second wife and spokesperson, Valeria Chomsky, immediately responded to inquiries about the Epstein-related emails in question \u2013 including whether they disputed the authenticity of the 2019 advice attributed to the scholar.<\/p>\n

\u2018Fantasizing about the Caribbean\u2019<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, collectively, the latest communications \u2013 published in connection with a congressional transparency law \u2013 continued undermining earlier suggestions by Chomsky that he primarily had financial dealings with Epstein, who was regularly photographed alongside some of the most significant figures from the last century.<\/p>\n

They also added significant contours to documents that US House Democrats released in November<\/a>, which partially contained comments attributed to Chomsky calling it \u201ca most valuable experience\u201d to have maintained \u201cregular contact\u201d with Epstein.<\/p>\n

To be sure, that regular contact did involve finances, including Chomsky communicating with Epstein for advice throughout a complex fight pitting him against his children from his first marriage that revolved around money and the purchase of an apartment.<\/p>\n

Chomsky\u2019s estate attorney at one point suggested sending a pointed email to a financial adviser over discrepancies surrounding a $187,000 payment. The attorney had a draft ready to go. But Chomsky \u2013 one of the world\u2019s brightest intellectuals \u2013 made sure to get Epstein\u2019s thoughts on whether it was a good idea for her to send the missive.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou should OK her sending but admonish [her] for being unwilling to ask tough questions,\u201d Epstein wrote, in part. \u201cNONSENSE.\u201d<\/p>\n

Valeria Chomsky arranged for an associate of Epstein to mail a $20,000 check meant to help \u201cadministering the Chomsky challenge in linguistics\u201d at another juncture.<\/p>\n

Beyond that, Chomsky\u2019s affiliation with Epstein netted him invitations to vacation together and recognizable names to his orbit.<\/p>\n

For instance, after the emails showed him and the Chomskys making plans to meet up in 2016, Epstein wrote to Noam, \u201cEnjoyed \u2026 [as] always. Come to New York or Caribbean? Enjoy the food.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did too, very much,\u201d Chomsky replied. \u201cValeria\u2019s always keen on New York. I\u2019m really fantasizing about the Caribbean island.\u201d<\/p>\n

At another point that same year, Epstein \u2013 a Brooklyn native \u2013 discussed being \u201cfree anytime\u201d to meet up with Chomsky in New York City because \u201ceveryone in the city besides us will be gone. Separate from Woody. Maybe we can do it again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chomsky replied that it would be \u201cgreat\u201d to grab dinner with Epstein and the \u201cAllens\u201d. The emails didn\u2019t specify whether they were alluding to film director Woody Allen and his wife, Soon-Yi Previn. But there is reason to believe it was the director, who has been ostracized by much of the industry because of allegations by his daughter Dylan Farrow<\/a> that he sexually assaulted her in 1992 \u2013 which Allen has repeatedly denied.<\/p>\n

That is because later in 2016 Epstein was notified by email that genetic testing kits from the company 23 and Me would \u201cbe delivered to Woody and Soon Yi\u201d. Months later, in the spring of 2017, emails showed Shuliak arranged to send the Chomskys a pair of the same kind of tests \u2013 courtesy of Epstein.<\/p>\n

About a year later, Chomsky reached out to Bannon and expressed his and Valeria\u2019s disappointment for \u201chaving missed you the other night\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cJeffrey \u2026 gave me your address,\u201d Chomsky wrote. \u201cHope that we can arrange something else before too long. Lots to talk about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bannon had been out of Trump\u2019s first administration for about a year at that point. \u201cAgree. Would love to connect,\u201d he wrote back, before saying his brother lived in Tucson, Arizona, where Chomsky had started working as a university professor.<\/p>\n

\u2018Pay no attention\u2019<\/p>\n

One unrelated exchange hinted at the playful tone Chomsky and Epstein could adopt. Epstein at one point wrote that he thought of Noam and Valeria Chomsky as if they were \u201cPluto and its moon\u201d. Chomsky responded by asking, \u201cWho\u2019s Pluto?\u201d \u2013 and Epstein sent a picture of the Disney character with an ear sticking up.<\/p>\n

After Chomsky said the anthropomorphic dog indeed looked like him, Epstein shot back a phallic joke, writing, \u201cAt your age, if anything sticks up, be proud.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOuch,\u201d Chomsky wrote, prompting Epstein to reply: \u201cGood, it still has feelings as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

The public image management advice that Epstein said he got from Chomsky in 2019 came after a key court ruling concerning the former. A federal judge found that US justice department prosecutors broke federal law when they signed a plea agreement with Epstein and then concealed it from more than 30 of his underage victims.<\/p>\n

Epstein\u2019s deal allowed him to plead guilty in Florida state court in 2008 to charges of procuring a person under 18 for prostitution and solicitation of prostitution and serve just 13 months in a local jail. That was the case even though US district court judge Kenneth Marra said the evidence he reviewed showed Epstein had operated a sex operation for which he and his associates recruited underage girls internationally in violation of federal law, as Miami Herald journalist Julie K Brown reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Within two days, Epstein had sent an email with the subject line \u201cThoughts from Chomsky\u201d to an attorney and publicist. The ensuing text was signed \u201cNoam\u201d and read: \u201cI\u2019ve watched the horrible way you are being treated in the press and public. It\u2019s painful to say but I think the best way to proceed is to ignore it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The text attributed to Chomsky said he had grappled with \u201ctons of hysterical accusations of all sorts\u201d. \u201cI pay no attention, unless I\u2019m approached for a comment on a specific matter. It\u2019s a nuisance, but it\u2019s the best way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Citing \u201ca hysteria that has developed about abuse of women\u201d, the text continued, \u201cIt\u2019s best I think not to react unless directly questioned, particularly in the current mood \u2013 which, I presume, will fade away, even if not in time to prevent much torture and distress.\u201d<\/p>\n

It did not, in fact, fade away. Federal prosecutors in New York charged Epstein with sex trafficking in July 2019 in a case that would eventually land his associate Ghislaine Maxwell<\/a> a 20-year prison sentence. Authorities said Epstein, 66, died by suicide at a federal lockup in August 2019.<\/p>\n

Interest in how the federal government handled the case surged in recent months after Trump promised to release a full list of Epstein\u2019s clients while successfully running for a second presidency in 2024. However, after he took office early 2025, Trump\u2019s justice department declared no such list existed.<\/p>\n

The president faced immense bipartisan political pressure to be transparent, and he ultimately signed a congressional bill directing his justice department to disclose more of the Epstein files, to which Friday\u2019s records release and others before it were related.<\/p>\n

Chomsky, who turned 97 in December, is a professor emeritus at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Since October 2023, he has been on unpaid medical leave from his role as a laureate linguistics professor at the University of Arizona, a school spokesperson said on Monday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The close friendship that Noam Chomsky maintained with Jeffrey Epstein continued being detailed extensively among millions of investigative…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":406219,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-406218","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=406218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406218\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/406219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}