Biden Cabinet nominee's meetings with Epstein in 2012 spanned 90 minutes, document reveals

Biden Cabinet nominee Eric Lander’s past meetings with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein spanned approximately 90 minutes over two events in the spring of 2012, according to a document obtained by POLITICO.

Lander, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology biology professor and President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the White House tech policy office, has faced scrutiny from Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike over a pair of events he attended nearly a decade ago with Epstein and other prospective donors.

The document reveals details that largely align with Lander and the White House’s descriptions of the meetings as brief interactions, including during his recent nomination hearing. But the controversy could still imperil his confirmation, which has also faced questions about allegations he downplayed female scientist's contributions to his field and about other past interactions with controversial figures.

Lander, tapped to lead the Office of Science and Technology Policy, is the only outstanding Biden Cabinet nominee yet to be confirmed.

Members of the Senate Committee Committee pressed Lander at a nomination hearing late last month to provide the panel with additional information about his interactions with Epstein, which were unearthed by news reports in 2019.

That response, submitted by the White House and obtained by POLITICO, says Lander's first such encounter was at a 60-minute lunch meeting with other scientists and “three or four donors or prospective donors” including Epstein on April 15, 2012.

Lander and other faculty members “made presentations about the state of research in their respective fields, and answered questions from the group, including Epstein," according to the document. It stated Lander attended the entire event.

The second interaction took place at a reception on May 12 of that year ahead of a dinner with “about forty people” consisting of faculty, donors and prospective donors, including Epstein. Lander did not attend the dinner but spent about 30 minutes at the reception and spoke to Epstein, among others.

“After these two events, Dr. Lander never saw or spoke to Epstein again,” states the document, which offers one of the fullest accounts of the events made public to date. Lander "neither ever requested or received any funding from [Epstein] or his foundations," the document reads. A 2019 BuzzFeed investigation found that Epstein donated millions to other researchers.

A spokesperson for OSTP declined to comment, and the Senate Commerce Committee did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Epstein had been a convicted sex offender since 2008. He was later arrested on federal sex trafficking charges in 2019 before killing himself.

At his April nomination hearing, Lander called Epstein an “abhorrent individual” and said he “chose to have no association whatsoever with him,” including never receiving funding from the financier.

“The sum total of my interactions was that I met him briefly at two events within the span of three weeks in the spring of 2012,” Lander testified, adding that he wasn’t aware of Epstein’s “sordid history” at the time.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) said at the session that she was “troubled” about those meetings among other incidents that called into question his handling of race and gender issues. Other members, including Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), have privately expressed concern as well, as POLITICO has reported.

The OSTP director post has been elevated to Cabinet level for the first time under Biden, in a nod to what he called the importance of scientific innovation.