Billionaire Who Funded Lawsuit Against Trump Met With Jeffrey Epstein

LinkedIn Chairman Reid Hoffman at the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco on March 30, 2011. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

A Democrat megadonor who funded a lawsuit accusing former President Donald Trump of defamation met with Jeffrey Epstein at the sex offender’s home.

LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, who has donated millions to Democrats over the years, went to Epstein’s notorious island in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Hoffman told The Wall Street Journal, which broke the news from records it reviewed, that he was trying to convince Epstein to donate to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he helps advise the university’s Media Lab.

Hoffman also was scheduled to sleep at Epstein’s townhouse in New York in 2014.

Hoffman, who couldn’t be reached by The Epoch Times for comment, told the Journal he regretted how he interacted with Epstein, after the latter pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution.

“It gnaws at me that, by lending my association, I helped his reputation, and thus delayed justice for his survivors,” Hoffman said. “While I relied on MIT’s endorsement, ultimately, I made the mistake, and I am sorry for my personal misjudgment.”

Former MIT Media Lab head Joi Ito said that Hoffman went to the island at his request, after Ito “confirmed to Reid that Mr. Epstein had been an approved donor target for MIT, in accordance with university rules and regulations.”

MIT didn’t respond to a request for comment. However, the university has previously said it shouldn’t have accepted donations from Epstein and that it donated money to nonprofits helping women who have been sexually abused.

In addition to funding a lawsuit against Trump by magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll, Hoffman has backed groups that created election disinformation, including a group that worked to suppress Republican voters.

Epstein was later charged with trafficking minors for sexual exploitation. Authorities said he “created a vast network of underage victims for him to sexually exploit in locations including New York and Palm Beach.”

Multiple women have said they were abused on the island owned by Epstein, who died in 2019 in jail while awaiting trial. Epstein’s estate settled with the U.S. Virgin Islands for more than $105 million in 2022.

The Journal says it reviewed documents, including Epstein’s schedule, that reveal new connections between Epstein and various notable people, including CIA Director William Burns and former MIT professor Noam Chomsky.

Epstein also met with Larry Summers, a Treasury secretary under former President George W. Bush and a top economic adviser to former President Barack Obama, and donated to Summers’s wife’s nonprofit, the Journal reported. A spokesperson for the couple said Summers regrets meeting with Epstein, and his wife regrets accepting the funds.

Epstein donated to top institutions, including Harvard University and MIT, over the years. Following the federal charges announced in 2019, many launched internal investigations, and some took action, like punishing staff members who were most closely involved with Epstein.

But some people and entities have made false statements about their connections with Epstein, including Edmond de Rothschild Group, which said its CEO, Ariane de Rothschild, never met with Epstein and that the bank never did business with him.

Documents reviewed by the Journal showed Rothschild met with Epstein more than a dozen times and assisted him with various tasks, and the bank acknowledged its earlier statement wasn’t truthful. A spokesperson for the bank declined to offer further details.