By Mackenzie Grizzard | Assistant News Editor
Newly released files by the House Oversight Committee detail the email relationship between former Baylor President Ken Starr and infamous New York financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The emails reflect a cordial friendship between the two, with Starr expressing his interest in visiting Epstein in New York City and Florida, discussing current events and even exchanging information about the sexual assault scandal implicating Baylor football and Starr in 2016.
According to the files, Starr regularly signed off his emails to Epstein with words like “hugs” and “love.”
Starr served as independent counsel in the President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky affair that later led to Clinton’s impeachment and was a part of the legal team that defended Epstein in his first criminal case in the early 2000s. Starr held a long career as a prominent attorney and appellate court judge and served as Baylor’s president from 2010–2016.
According to an article by Chron, Starr was “instrumental” in securing a plea deal for Epstein in 2008, which included a non-prosecution agreement. Epstein was accused of running a “cult-like” network used to sexually assault underage girls in his Palm Beach mansion, but was ultimately granted immunity from federal sex trafficking charges. Epstein pled guilty to two state felony prosecution charges, served 18 months in prison and registered as a sex offender.
The files detail a relationship between Starr and Epstein that lasted throughout the mid-2010s, with Epstein insisting that Starr visit his New York apartment and sending him a link to a 2016 DailyMail Article about a woman accusing President Donald Trump of assaulting her at one of Epstein’s parties.
Later, Starr would complain to Epstein about a Texas Monthly article detailing a sexual assault scandal that implicated former Baylor football coach Art Briles and resulted in Starr’s termination as president.
Epstein was later convicted on federal sex trafficking charges in 2019, which were dropped after he was found dead in a New York federal prison.
Starr died in 2022 of complications after a surgery.
