New documents shed light on the relationship between Jeffrey Epstein and one of the world's most famous intellectuals

The close friendship that linguist Noam Chomsky, one of the most famous contemporary intellectuals, maintained with the late financier Jeffrey Epstein continues to be detailed in the millions of investigative documents released by the Department of Justice in Washington, The Guardian reports.

In the batch of new documents released last Friday, which add to previous revelations about the close social ties between the two, there is no specific indication that the famous teacher and linguist was referring to his friend's private Caribbean island where children were sexually abused.

The Guardian points out, however, that the “personal familiarity” between the two men “is palpable in that exchange of messages, as it is in numerous other emails between Chomsky and Epstein” intended to plan more mundane social gatherings.

There was also an exchange of messages in which Chomsky wrote to Steve Bannon, the right-wing White House chief strategist during Donald Trump's first presidency, requesting an introductory meeting. “We have a lot to talk about,” Chomsky wrote, adding that Bannon's contact information was provided to him by Epstein, a former Trump friend.

Karyna Shuliak, Epstein's ex-girlfriend, at one point sent an email to a third party whose identity has been withheld, saying she and her boyfriend wanted to send Chomsky and his wife two genetic testing kits.

What advice did Noam Chomsky give to Epstein?

Perhaps most strikingly, in late February 2019, Epstein told an associate that he had received advice from Chomsky on how to handle “the horrible way you are treated in the press and in the public space.” This was 11 years after Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution and months before he died in custody in a US prison while awaiting trial on new human trafficking charges brought against him by US prosecutors.

“The best way is to ignore,” Chomsky allegedly wrote, according to a text signed with his first name that Epstein sent to a lawyer and public relations agent. “This is all the more true now with the hysteria that has developed around the abuse of women to the point where even questioning an allegation is a crime worse than murder,” the message continued.

Neither Noam Chomsky nor his second wife and spokeswoman, Valeria Chomsky, have yet to respond to requests for comment about the Epstein-related emails.

The latest documents on communications between the two, released under a law passed by the US Congress last November, further undermine Chomsky's earlier claims that his relationship with Epstein was primarily a financial one, with the financier frequently photographed alongside some of the most important figures of the last century.

They also provide significant new details about the relationship between the intellectual and the financier, after a separate set of documents released in November 2025 by House Democrats contained comments attributed to Chomsky in which he described being in “regular contact” with Epstein as “an extremely valuable experience.”

What Jeffrey Epstein advised Chomsky

This regular contact also involved financial aspects, including the fact that the linguist communicated with Epstein for advice in a complex legal dispute with his children from his first marriage, which centered on money and the purchase of an apartment.

Chomsky's lawyer, who manages his estate, at one point suggested sending a scathing email to a financial adviser over discrepancies over a $187,000 payment. The lawyer had already drafted a version of the document. But Chomsky, regarded in some circles as one of the world's most brilliant intellectuals, made sure to ask Epstein's opinion on whether it was a good idea for her to send the message.

“You should agree to send him, but reprimand her [pentru] that she's not willing to ask tough questions,” Epstein replied, adding: “BALIVERNE.”

Valeria Chomsky at another time arranged for an Epstein associate to mail a $20,000 check intended to help “administer the Chomsky Linguistics Competition.”

Chomsky and Epstein spent vacations together

Beyond that, Chomsky's association with Epstein earned him invitations to joint vacations and household names in his social circle.

For example, one email exchange shows that Epstein and the Chomsky family were making plans to meet again in 2016, with the financier at one point writing to Noam: “I enjoyed … [ca] always. Are you coming to New York or the Caribbean? Enjoy the food.”

“We really liked it too,” Chomsky replied. “Valeria always longs for New York. I actually dream about the Caribbean island.”

At another point that same year, the Brooklyn-born Epstein discussed being “free anytime” to meet with Chomsky in New York because “everyone in town but us will be gone. Apart from Woody. Maybe we can do it again.”

Chomsky responded that it would be “great” to have dinner with Epstein and the “Allen family,” in an apparent reference to director Woody Allen. The emails do not specifically indicate whether it is indeed the director and his wife, Soon-Yi Previn. But there's reason to believe it was the director, who has been ostracized by much of the industry over allegations made by his daughter Dylan Farrow that he sexually assaulted her in 1992 – allegations Allen has repeatedly denied.

This is supported by the fact that later in 2016, Epstein was informed by email that genetic testing kits from the company 23andMe were to be “delivered to Woody and Soon Yi”. A few months later, in the spring of 2017, emails showed Shuliak arranged to send the Chomsky family a pair of the same type of tests from Epstein.

Epstein brokered the connections between Chomsky and Steve Bannon

About a year later, Chomsky wrote to Steve Bannon, a prominent figure in the MAGA world, and expressed his and Valerie's disappointment that “I missed you the other night.”

“Jeffrey … gave me your address,” Chomsky wrote. “I hope we can arrange something else soon. We have a lot to talk about,” he added.

At that point, Bannon had been out of the first Trump administration for about a year. “Agreed. I'd like to see you,” he replied, before saying that his brother lived in Tucson, Arizona, where Chomsky had started working as a university professor.

Another exchange of messages, unrelated to the rest, suggested the playful tone that Chomsky and Epstein might adopt. Epstein once wrote that he thought of Noam and Valeria Chomsky as “Pluto and its moon”. Chomsky responded by asking, “Which Pluto?” – and Epstein sent him a picture of the Disney character with one ear up.

After Chomsky said that the anthropomorphic dog did indeed look like him, Epstein retorted with a phallic quip: “At your age, if anything stands up, be proud.”

“They do,” Chomsky wrote, prompting Epstein to reply, “Okay, he still has feelings.”

The exchanges between the two would have continued even after the outbreak of the huge scandal in 2019

The public image management advice Epstein said he received from Chomsky in 2019 came after a landmark court decision. A federal judge found that Justice Department prosecutors in Washington broke federal law when they signed a plea deal with Epstein and then hid it from more than 30 of his underage victims.

That deal allowed Epstein to plead guilty in 2008 in a Florida court to charges of procuring a person under 18 for prostitution and solicitation of prostitution and serve only 13 months in a local jail. This despite the fact that federal judge Kenneth Marra said that the evidence he reviewed showed that Epstein.

Over the course of two days in 2019, Epstein sent an email with the subject line “Thoughts from Chomsky” to a lawyer and public relations agent. The text, signed “Noam”, read: “I have watched the horrible way you are treated in the media and in the public space. It hurts to say this but I think the best way is to ignore it.”

The text attributed to Chomsky stated that he had faced “tons of hysterical accusations of all kinds”. “I don't pay them any attention unless I'm approached for a comment on a specific matter. It's annoying, but it's the best solution.”

Citing “the hysteria that has developed around the abuse of women”, the text continued: “I think it is best not to react unless asked directly, especially in the current state of mind – which I suppose will pass, if not in time to prevent much torture and suffering.”

Actually, it didn't pass. Federal prosecutors in New York charged Epstein with sex trafficking in July 2019, in a case that would eventually lead to the sentencing of his associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, to 20 years in prison. Authorities said Epstein, 66, died by suicide in a federal detention center in August 2019.

Chomsky, who turned 97 in December, is a professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As of October 2023, he is on unpaid medical leave from his position as professor emeritus of linguistics at the University of Arizona, a spokesman for the institution said Monday.