Why is ASU mentioned so much in the Epstein files? What to know

Arizona State University brags about being No. 1 in innovation. But it’s also apparently up there in mentions in the infamous Epstein files.

Of the roughly 3.5 million pages of files currently released from the Department of Justice’s investigation into convicted sex offender and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, “Arizona State University” appears nearly 3,500 times, or in 0.1% of documents. For comparison, Arizona’s two other public universities, the University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University, are mentioned only 116 and seven times, respectively. ASU mentions also dwarfed many out-of-state schools, far outpacing Big 12 Conference universities like Baylor (18 mentions) and Kansas (10).

To whom do Sun Devils owe this dubious distinction? One disgraced former professor, former ASU physicist and cosmologist professor Lawrence Krauss.

The 71-year-old Krauss gained notoriety for his views on religion and for his role as chairman of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, known for its “Doomsday Clock” that tracks humanity’s proximity to Armageddon. After his departure from ASU in 2018 — months before Epstein was arrested on sex trafficking charges — Krauss began hosting a podcast and writing a Subtstack newsletter.

Krauss’ name is mentioned more than 5,200 times in the Epstein files. The released documents — which do not represent the entirety of what the DOJ has — show thousands of communications between Krauss and Epstein dating back to 2006, when Krauss was a professor at Case Western Reserve University.

In released emails, the two men discussed Krauss’s ASU Origins Project, which Epstein funded, as well as travel plans. Epstein also walked Krauss through attempted damage control after Krauss learned that BuzzFeed was investigating him over allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct.

Krauss has denied knowing about Epstein’s crimes. In November, he told the Arizona Republic that “none of the communications with Epstein relate in any way to the horrendous crimes he was accused of in 2019. I was as shocked as the rest of the world when he was arrested.”

Krauss and Epstein 

Krauss joined ASU’s faculty as a foundational professor at the School of Earth and Space Exploration in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences’ Physics Department in 2008. That same year, he became the director of the Origins Project, a university initiative that sought to explore the beginnings of humanity. The project received more than $2 million from Epstein and his foundation, according to a BuzzFeed News report. Epstein also hosted a science advisory committee for the project in St. Thomas in 2010, according to the files. 

In 2010, Krauss attempted to arrange two meetings between Epstein and ASU President Michael Crow — one in Tempe and one in New York City. According to the files, those attempts appear to have failed. That same year, Epstein called ASU’s Decision Theater, a visualization center aimed at helping policymakers make complex decisions and a passion project of Crow’s, a “LOAD OF BULLSHIt” in an email to Krauss.

A year later, Krauss defended Epstein over his 2008 Florida conviction for child prostitution in a Daily Beast article. When a colleague emailed about the article, Krauss argued that Epstein is an “easy target for those who want to take advantage of him” and that he believed Epstein when “he told me he had no idea the girls were underage,” according to an email exchange in the released files.

In 2017, BuzzFeed News began investigating a series of sexual misconduct allegations against Krauss, including groping women and ogling and making sexist jokes to undergrads. The investigation was published in February 2018. In lengthy emails to BuzzFeed News, Krauss denied the allegations and called them “false and misleading defamatory.” At the same time, he sought advice from Epstein, who had received basically a wrist slap for his 2008 conviction.

Prior to the BuzzFeed story’s publication, Krauss asked Epstein if he should contact reporter Peter Aldhous, who had submitted a public records request to ASU about Krauss and the Origins Project. Epstein told Krauss to “go slow,” as “an aggressive tone will be counterproductive” and “this needs honey not vinegar.” Around the same time, ASU began investigating Krauss for an alleged breach of the university’s code of conduct. “FUCK !!!” Epstein wrote Krauss in reaction. 

Famous linguistics professor Noam Chomsky also involved himself in the matter. Chomsky discussed the allegations against Krauss with Buzzfeed News, telling the outlet that “what you describe is not consistent with what we know about his life and character.” Chomsky forwarded that correspondence to Krauss and Epstein. Epstein told Krauss to “put the reporter on notice that these allegations have been proven to be unsubstantiated,” suggesting he could sue for libel. Later, he told Krauss to respond to the allegations in a “short concise cover letter that you would like published in it(‘s) entirety.” Around the time of the article’s publication, Krauss sent a cease-and-desist letter to BuzzFeed News over the article. DOJ files show Epstein consulted on it. 

ASU put Krauss on paid leave a month after BuzzFeed’s story broke. The dean of his department recommended that Krauss be dismissed from the university, pending an investigation. In an email to Epstein in September 2018, Krauss suggested he was uninterested in a libel suit, writing that “suing doesn’t indicate interest in truth. Look at our friend donald.” He later told Epstein not to use his university email.

Eight months after BuzzFeed News’ story ran, Krauss announced his retirement from ASU. When a BuzzFeed reporter asked Krauss for comment after his retirement announcement, Epstein told Krauss, “DO NOT RESPOND TO THAT FUCK with serious answers. ARE YOU NUTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” 

Between the Buzzfeed story and Krauss’ retirement announcement, he continued to consult Epstein regularly, including about his post-ASU plans. The two men communicated regularly until May 2019, just two months before Epstein’s sex-trafficking arrest.