Epstein files mention Francine LeFrak, names of Barnard trustees’ families and alumni

The Barnard Bulletin found that the Department of Justice’s Epstein Library contains multiple mentions of prominent Barnard College affiliates, including the LeFrak, Milstein, and Blankfein families.

Photo by Haley Scull/The Barnard Bulletin

By Ava Glicksberg, Jaya Shankar, Karissa Song, and Kimberly Wing

February 1, 2026

Updated June 17, 2026 at 5:01 p.m.

Editor’s Note: This article mentions sensitive topics, including sexual assault and human trafficking. The mention of individuals within the files does not signify participation in illegal activity. All information cited in this article is publicly accessible. 

The names of several Barnard affiliates, including an applicant admitted in 2011, two alumni, and the families of two current trustees, can be found in the Department of Justice’s “Epstein Library,” a collection of messages, images, and emails between convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his associates.

Among 3.5 million files released between November 2025 and January 2026, multiple documents reveal that Epstein was in contact with the relatives of several Barnard College trustees, donors, and affiliates, including the LeFrak, Blankfein, and Milstein families.

In the Epstein Library, the surname “LeFrak” yielded a total of 58 search results, with Francine LeFrak’s name appearing 15 times.

Francine LeFrak, a Barnard trustee, is the founder and president of The Francine A. LeFrak Foundation, which financed Barnard’s Center for Well-Being that opened in October 2024. A College press release described the LeFrak family as “longtime members and supporters of the Barnard community,” with Francine LeFrak’s mother, Ethel Stone LeFrak (BC ’41), previously serving on the Board of Trustees for “many years.” 

In an email sent to Epstein on September 10, 2010, an individual named “Jonathan” wrote that "Francine Lefrak asked me what I was doing for the holidays."

“I said I was going to you,” Jonathan wrote, “She and her husband Rick [Friedberg] would love to stop by would that be okay.” The email does not specify a location where LeFrak, Friedberg, or Jonathan may have visited Epstein.

Epstein wrote “of course” in response.

Later that day, Jonathan emailed Epstein again, writing that "Francine asked me to forward this [an unspecified file] to you to come as her guest."

"I am going and there will be many African heads of state there," Jonathan continued, "she is great friends with the president of Rwanda."

Jonathan did not specify LeFrak by surname. However, Francine LeFrak founded Same Sky, an initiative whose mission is to "employ and train women in Rwanda" amid the impacts of sexual violence against women from the Rwandan genocide.

In 2014, an unidentified individual emailed Epstein and said that they "ran into Ghislaine [at] francine lefraks house at a party for Cheri Blair," the wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Ghislaine Maxwell, a former British socialite, recruited underage girls and leveraged her social connections to expand Epstein’s trafficking ring.

Peggy Siegal, a publicist and close associate of Epstein, frequently mentioned the LeFrak family in her emails with him. In 2013, Siegal noted that Francine LeFrak was among the attendees of actress Grace Hightower’s birthday party. Later that year, Siegal invited Epstein to her own birthday celebration, sending him a guest list that included Richard and Karen LeFrak, the brother and sister-in-law of Francine LeFrak. 

Correspondences reveal that the LeFraks were invited to and attended parties at Mar-a-Lago, a private luxury resort in Florida owned by President Donald Trump. This included a “LeFrak dinner … at [sic] Maralogo,” as Siegal wrote in a 2010 email to Epstein. Epstein once called himself “Don’s best friend.”

More recently, Francine LeFrak attended a 2017 New Year’s party at Mar-a-Lago, and in November 2025, was recorded at the resort shaking hands with President Trump.

Philip Milstein (CC ’71), the husband of Cheryl Glicker Milstein (BC ’82), was also named in the Epstein files.

Glicker Milstein served on the Barnard Board of Trustees for almost three decades and as chair for eight years until July 2025. The Milsteins have financed many Barnard projects, including the Glicker-Milstein theater and a $25 million contribution toward the construction of the Milstein Center. As of 2019, all of their contributions to Barnard and Columbia totaled over $100 million.

In a 2013 email, Philip Milstein, along with former Henry Schein executive Stan Bergman and hedge fund manager John Paulson, invited Epstein to the 2013 American Jewish Committee's awarding of a leadership award to businessman Matthew Bronfman. Milstein, Bergman, and Paulson offered for Epstein “to be included in our Tribute Committee for Matthew Bronfman.”

Milstein, Bergman, and Paulson concluded the email with wishing Epstein “a year of peace, good health and happiness.”

The Epstein files also mentioned Lloyd Blankfein, the former CEO of Goldman Sachs, and the husband of Laura Blankfein (BC ’75), who succeeded Cheryl Milstein as Barnard’s chair of the Board of Trustees last July. 

In 2010, Nili Priel, the wife of former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, wrote to Epstein that “Ehud suggested that ... you could invite Lloyd Blankfein” to an undisclosed event. Epstein’s assistant, Lesley Groff, responded that she had “spoken to Michelle, Blankfein’s assistant, and emailed her [regarding] the dinner for Barak.” 

Groff emailed Epstein again shortly after, stating that Michelle had informed her of Blankfein’s “long standing client commitment” but “was sure he would be disappointed” that he could not attend dinner with Epstein and Barak.

It is unclear whether a meeting between Epstein, Blankfein, and Barak ever took place, though numerous files point to a “close” relationship between Barak and Epstein spanning over a decade. 

Available records do not indicate that Francine LeFrak, Cheryl Milstein, Laura Blankfein, or Lloyd Blankfein directly contacted Epstein.

On June 29, 2011, Epstein contacted Ehud Barak’s daughter, Anat Barak, to introduce “Tali,” an 18-year-old newly admitted Barnard student, who wanted to serve “in one of the elite units in the IDF [Israeli Defense Forces].”

“Upon her return to the United States for college, she would be a fantastic ambassador for Israel on one of the more important college campuses in the country - Columbia,” Epstein wrote.

Anat Barak introduced herself to Tali and CC’d Epstein in an email sent an hour later. 

“Jeffrey Epstein told me about you and about your plans to join the IDF this summer,” Anat Barak wrote. “I would love to speak with you.”

A 2022 investigation by The New York Times found that Epstein purchased a “rare cello” for “a young Israeli man named Yoed Nir,” who introduced his wife, Anat, as the daughter of former Israeli Prime Minister Barak. Ehud Barak reportedly “confirmed that Yoed and Anat Nir are his son-in-law and daughter.”

The resumes of Donna Redel (BC ’74) and Sharon Bilar (BC ’98), two other Barnard alumni, are also among the Epstein files. Epstein’s relationships to Redel and Bilar are unclear, and no further mention of either individual were found in the Epstein Library.

Numerous survivors of Epstein's trafficking ring testified that Epstein “maintained close ties to multiple academic institutions” and “repeatedly lured young women into his network by promising to help them gain admission into colleges and universities," including Columbia University. 

While Epstein donated to Columbia University and its College of Dental Medicine from 2010 to 2012, survivors have not named Barnard College as a recipient of his money. The names of current members of Barnard’s administration were not found in the Epstein Library.

The Bulletin has reached out to the College for a comment regarding the names of the LeFrak, Milstein, and Blankfein families appearing in the Epstein files.

Editor’s Note: This article was updated to include information in the Epstein files on the Milstein family’s appearance in paragraphs 13-16 and the email in paragraph nine describing an encounter with Ghislaine Maxwell at Francine LeFrak's house.

This is a developing story.