Science reporter alleges Lawrence Krauss received $100K from Jeffrey Epstein and defended him despite abuse allegations

° At CSICon in Las Vegas in October, a few dozen fans paid $500 per head to attend a VIP luncheon with you and Dawkins. ° Many more lined up to get you to sign their copy of your latest book, The Greatest Story Ever Told — So Far. ° Online, people can buy T-shirts emblazoned “Lawrence Krauss for President.” ° In talks and interviews, you have argued that our universe arose without divine intervention, that religion drives xenophobia, and that our brains are hardwired to believe. ° You have stated that science provides answers to many of life’s biggest questions, and can even fix great societal injustices. ° Earlier this year, at a Q&A event to promote your new book, the conversation came around to the dearth of women and minorities in science. “Science itself overcomes misogyny and prejudice and bias,” you said. “It’s built in: Questioning yourself, always questioning results, questioning others, relying on empirical evidence.” ° You have clashed with some skeptics over your defense of Jeffrey Epstein, a billionaire financier who in 2008 was convicted for soliciting prostitution from underage girls, and spent 13 months in a Florida jail. ° Through his private foundation, Epstein has funded the work of several prominent scientists. He has provided funding for your Origins Project, supporting lectureship and scholarship programs, most recently pledging $100,000 in 2014. ° In April 2011, you told the Daily Beast: “As a scientist | always judge things on empirical evidence and he always has women ages 19 to 23 around him, but I’ve never seen anything else, so as a scientist, my presumption is that whatever the problems were | would believe him over other people.” ° In a blog comment about the Epstein controversy, you wrote: “I remain skeptical, and | support a man whose character | believe I know...If you want to condemn me for that, so be it.” ° You were made an honorary member of CFI’s board of directors in December 2011. ° A blog post published in August 2013 described incidents #1 and #4, naming you. Another post, published at around the same time, described incident #5. ° The first post was edited to remove your name after you had commented that the allegations of assault were “potentially illegal.” The second post was quickly taken down. Again, if you wish to comment on or clarify any of these points, please get in touch with us as soon as possible. If |do not respond immediately it is because | am on another call, so please leave the best phone number to reach you. Thanks, Peter Aldhous Peter Aldhous, PhD Science reporter | BuzzFeed News tc] Ei” cell: @paldhous www.peteraldhous.com Lawrence M. Krauss Director, The Origins Project at ASU HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_031276