At Cornell University, numerous people including past and present leaders, mega-donors, and medical faculty, maintained significant ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
Some of these people, such as Debra Black, Dayssi Olarte Kanavos, and Howard Lutnick, could be described as major Epstein associates…
As you may be aware, Cornell is also in the midst of a major campus rape scandal involving 7+ fraternity brothers, most of whom were asked to “write essays” in response tothem raping another student, so this is worth extra scrutiny.
Cornell current and former leaders, faculty, and mega-donors tied to the Epstein network:
Debra Black
Cornell Leadership & Advisory Roles: Member of the Board of Fellows (Overseers) at Weill Cornell Medicine.
Epstein Connection: She is the wife of Apollo Global Management co-founder Leon Black, who is a major, major part of Epstein’s network, and she was also involved with Epstein through organizations like her own very private family’s foundation -
Epstein was the sole director of the Black’s family foundation for over a decade, including well after his conviction in 2008!
Epstein was so close to her and Leon that he was the only board member besides them, for years (see more details below)..
Among many, many other things, Leon Black paid Epstein approximately $158 million for what he called “tax advice”, “estate planning”, and “family office management” between 2012 and 2017.
Reports indicated that Epstein also helped Leon manage payments to various women, including roughly $20 million distributed to about a dozen women, some of whom had personal or sexual relationships with Leon.
Internal emails and documents show Epstein frequently coordinated with the Black family estate and financial apparatus, including interactions surrounding art deals, tax strategies, and philanthropic ventures tied to the family.
There is much more to discuss here, including the horrific rape “allegations” against Leon, including a woman with Down Syndrome who was “about 12 years old developmentally”, and at least three different women who accused Leon of rape… but this is what I will discuss for now for time’s sake. I am only calling them allegations so that this Substack is not taken down.
Howard Lutnick
Cornell Leadership & Advisory Roles: Member of the Board of Fellows (Overseers) at Weill Cornell Medicine and Chairman/CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald.
Epstein Connection: Unsealed files detailed numerous personal and financial contacts with Epstein, including Howard scheduling a trip to visit Epstein’s main island in the Caribbean..
Lutnick visited Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse for social lunches and business meetings in the mid-2010s, invited him to events (including a campaign event for Hillary Clinton), and emails showed logistics involving travel and meetings, arranged through Epstein’s assistants.
Here is one of the emails referencing the “intimate” campaign event for Hillary Clinton…
Lutnick is, of course, Trump’s commerce secretary, and Trump had perhaps one of the closest, and longest relationships with Epstein that anyone had.
Dayssi Olarte Kanavos
Cornell Leadership & Advisory Roles: Dayssi served on the board of the Hotel School, and is currently a member of the President’s Council of Cornell Women, and the Trustee Council of the University.
Epstein Connection: There are numerous connections that will be shown here, like many of the other names discussed in this article. While many public figures’ interactions with Epstein are documented in high-level flight logs and much more, some of these other operational ties require closer examination. Unpacking the extent of Dayssi’s involvement with the network here, required examining and reporting on the paper trail of business dealings, charity involvement, and more, which was somewhat buried…
Firstly, Dayssi created the nonprofit New Yorkers for Children that has major trafficking allegations against it (the document from the Epstein files on this is shown further below) and deserves much scrutiny.
This is also a charity that Ghislaine Maxwell supported, and Ghislaine can be seen at this event for the charity here, alongside her good friend, the CEO of private equity giant Blackstone, Stephen Schwarzman…
Dayssi was/is close with Ghislaine Maxwell, as seen above, at this luncheon for a charity to “prevent” cruelty to children… Ghislaine was known for supporting charities like this, and “anti”-trafficking charities as well..
Dayssi has been photographed other times with Ghislaine as well, and Dayssi included Ghislaine in this feature post for Dayssi’s own business, Flag Luxury Group, in South Beach, as seen below.
In this photo, Dayssi is attending an event at Ghislaine’s personal home, as you can see from the description, and other sources confirm this was Ghislaine’s home!
There are many photos of Ghislaine’s home online. Here is on particular, striking image from the home, and the wallpaper also matches that of the photo above.
Major Update! As you can see below, Dayssi was also exploring (and doing?) business with Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, a very close friend of Epstein who got in major trouble and had to step down from his position, after being exposed for sending a torture video to Epstein.
Dayssi is shown in multiple photos with the sultan below, including one where it is just the two of them…
Of course, people operating child exploitation and trafficking rings, can use “philanthropy”, especially anti-cruelty or anti-trafficking philanthropies, as a cover for their activities, or even use that philanthropy to facilitate those activities. This is what was alleged in this FBI complaint about trafficking from the Epstein files, that names Dayssi, Ghislaine, and others…
Interestingly, there were also allegations in that complaint that she was trafficking children out of the Ritz Carton Hotel, and she has been heavily involved with developing various Ritz-Carlton properties, as you can see here…
Dayssi also blocked me on Instagram after I reported about her numerous ties to the Epstein network…
As with many of the figures discussed in this article, this is a high-level briefing on the involvement with the Epstein network; there is more information about the involvement of some of these different figures that is available.
For more information about Dayssi and some other figures that are part of this network, please check out this article…
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Now, let’s get to Sandy Weill (and yes, Sandy Weill was the donor who is now the namesake of entities like Cornell’s Weill medical school).
Sandy Weill took a flight on Epstein’s plane, along with Ghislaine and some others:
Sandy Weill is not a stranger to scandal, as we can see from this article:
Below are some other names of people who are Epstein associates, or have significant communications / ties to the Epstein network, and who are currently or recently serving in leadership roles at Cornell, or have other major institutional ties to the school.
Please note that the information and names in this article, should not be considered to be exhaustive.
Again, for some of these people, like the Black family, Howard Lutnick, and others, there was much more information about their ties to, and involvement with, the Epstein network, than I felt I had time to cover today.
Russell Hernandez (’88)
Cornell Leadership & Advisory Roles: Served on the ILR School Dean’s Advisory Council. In 2022, he received the Jerome Alpern Award, a major alumni award honoring dedicated service to Cornell’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations.
Epstein Connection: Released DOJ files showed that Hernandez’s firm, Atlantic State Consultants, was hired by Epstein in 2018 to manage major renovation projects.
These included construction on Epstein’s private island, Little St. James (such as pool installation and tile work), and updates to his Manhattan townhouse.
Dr. Javaid Sheikh / Weill Cornell Medicine- Qatar Executive Leadership
Cornell Administrative Leadership: Dr. Javaid Sheikh served as Dean of Weill Cornell Medicine - Qatar and a member of the Weill Cornell executive academic leadership.
Epstein Connection: DOJ emails from April 2017 revealed an intermediary, an NYC-based dermatologist affiliated with top Manhattan hospitals, reaching out directly to Epstein asking if Epstein could use his hedge fund connections to land a job in finance for the son of “my friend who is Dean of Weill Cornell Medical College [Qatar]”.
Dr. Francis Barany
Cornell Academic & Institutional Leadership: Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Weill Cornell Medicine and founder of Coferon, a Cornell-affiliated biotech spinoff company.
Epstein Connection: DOJ files revealed that Dr. Barany met in person with Epstein in October 2011 to pitch funding for his cancer mutation detection startup, Coferon.
Emails also show Dr. Barany attempting to connect through Epstein’s network in 2014 to secure funding for Ebola research. University records showed that supposedly, no formal grants or gifts were ultimately received from Epstein.
Brad S. Karp (’81)
Cornell Affiliation: Prominent alumnus and major donor; father of David Karp (’16), who attended Cornell as an undergraduate.
Epstein Connection: As Chairman of the law firm Paul, Weiss, Karp represented high-profile clients like Apollo’s Leon Black (who paid Epstein $158 million for tax advice). Released DOJ emails showed Karp thanking Epstein for social dinners in 2015 and asking Epstein in 2016 if his son, then a Cornell student, could secure a production assistant role on a Woody Allen film set.
Dr. Harry Fisch
Cornell Affiliation: Former Clinical Professor of Urology and Reproductive Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine (until 2021).
Epstein Connection: DOJ files revealed that Dr. Fisch maintained frequent personal, medical, and social communications with Epstein from 2015 until Epstein’s death in 2019. Fisch provided off-the-record medical advice, attended social dinners at Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse with figures like Leon Black and Woody Allen, and sought pitch connections for his pharmaceutical venture.
Some of the Harry Fisch’s incredibly concerning communications with Jeffrey Epstein, including discussions that appear to contains euphemisms for harmful behavior, were discussed further here and here, and are shown in part below:
Dr. Jeffrey Port
Cornell Affiliation: Thoracic surgeon and Professor of Clinical Cardiothoracic Surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine.
Epstein Connection: Emails indicate Dr. Port communicated with Epstein in 2015 seeking venture capital backing for his cell therapy company, Angiocrine Biosciences. A university spokesperson alleged that they met once in a business capacity, supposedly based on Epstein’s reputation as a science funder, and no funding was ever received.
Dr. Allen Chen
Cornell Affiliation: Former Professor at Weill Cornell Medicine.
Epstein Context: Released records indicate communications involving Epstein’s assistants helping coordinate medical appointments for international figures associated with Epstein’s network through Weill Cornell facilities. Dr. Allen Chen arranged a medical appointment for a former Qatari prime minister through Jeffrey Epstein’s liaison, Lesley Groff, in 2017.
Notable Cornell alumni and research connections to the Epstein network:
Darren Indyke (J.D. ‘91) & Reid Weingarten (’71)
Cornell Affiliation: Cornell Law School alumni.
Epstein Connection: Darren Indyke served as Epstein’s longtime personal attorney and co-executor of his estate. Reid Weingarten was a high-profile defense attorney who represented Epstein in legal matters.
Paul Finnegan & Dr. Jeffrey Port (Angiocrine Biosciences / Weill Cornell Ventures)
Cornell Advisory & Medical Leadership: As previously noted, Dr. Jeffrey Port is a Thoracic Surgeon and Professor of Clinical Cardiothoracic Surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine. Paul Finnegan served as CEO of Angiocrine Biosciences, a biotech spin-off developed through Weill Cornell research.
Epstein Connection: Released emails revealed that in July 2015, Dr. Port pitched Epstein for venture capital investment in Angiocrine, offering a “25% discount”. Follow-up documents show Finnegan and Port visited Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse to deliver financial projections, valuations, and cap tables.
Epstein later consulted his key scientific advisor, Dr. Boris Nikolic, who advised against investing. Cornell Media Relations confirmed they met once in a business capacity, but alleged that no funding was received.
David Karp (’16) & Brad Karp (’81)
Cornell Leadership & Student Body Ties: Brad Karp (previously mentioned) is a prominent alumnus, donor, and father to David Karp (’16), who attended Cornell as an undergraduate, winning the “MyCornell” sesquicentennial video contest.
Epstein Connection: Unsealed 2016 emails showed Epstein acting as a Hollywood liaison for David Karp while he was a student at Cornell. Epstein set up meetings and screening access with director Woody Allen for David, texting Allen that David was allegedly “22 and worked on Scorsese production... will do anything and does not need to get paid”. David subsequently worked on Allen’s film sets as a “production assistant”. Brad Karp maintained social contact with Epstein through his legal representation of Apollo’s Leon Black.
Dr. Boris Nikolic
Cornell Scientific Network Context: Top biotech venture capitalist (Biomatics Capital) and former chief science advisor to Bill Gates; frequently introduced to Cornell faculty by Epstein.
Epstein Connection: Released files show Epstein frequently used Nikolic as his scientific evaluator when Cornell researchers, spin-off founders, or Weill faculty (such as Dr. Harry Fisch and Dr. Jeffrey Port) approached Epstein for research backing or venture funding.
I am planning to write a follow-up article that discusses sex trafficking at various colleges…
Credit also goes to Nathan Jugan and Daniel L. Denz, for their hard work and research that brought to light some of the information around Dayssi and this network. Much of that research can be seen on X.
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