Valeria Wasserman, spouse of renowned linguist and philosopher Noam Chomsky, has publicly characterized their association with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as falling victim to a calculated ‘Trojan horse’ strategy. This statement emerges amidst the release of court documents by the U.S. Department of Justice, which detail communications between the 97-year-old intellectual and the disgraced financier.
The disclosed correspondence reveals that in February 2019, Professor Chomsky provided Epstein with counsel on managing media scrutiny, advising him to ‘ignore’ the criticism surrounding his treatment in press reports. Chomsky notably characterized the climate surrounding abuse allegations as ‘hysteria,’ suggesting that questioning charges had become viewed as ‘a crime worse than murder.’
Ms. Wasserman contextualized these communications by explaining that their introduction to Epstein occurred during a 2015 academic event, at which time his 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor remained largely unknown to the general public, including themselves. Epstein reportedly presented himself as a scientific philanthropist and financial expert, thereby gaining Chomsky’s professional attention.
The academic’s wife detailed how Epstein ‘began to encircle Noam’ through gifts and orchestrated discussions aligned with his intellectual interests. She expressed profound regret that they failed to recognize this as a strategic effort to ensnare them and potentially undermine Chomsky’s longstanding advocacy work.
While acknowledging social interactions including lunches at Epstein’s ranch, dinners at his Manhattan townhouse, and use of his New York apartment during professional visits, Wasserman emphatically stated they never visited Epstein’s Caribbean island and witnessed no inappropriate behavior or presence of minors during their encounters.
These disclosures coincide with Wasserman’s confirmation that Professor Chomsky continues to confront significant health challenges following a devastating stroke in June 2023, leaving him under constant medical care and unable to engage in public discourse.
In conclusion, Wasserman unequivocally stated: ‘Noam and I recognize the gravity of Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes and the profound suffering of his victims,’ expressing ‘unrestricted solidarity’ while maintaining that their interactions were predicated on Epstein’s deliberately constructed false narrative.