Thread by @rebeccawatson

I see more people (like @xeni) starting to call out Jeffrey Epstein's connections to scientists who helped him clean his pedo image. Let me tell you about the one who not only quietly took his money but vociferously supported him AFTER Epstein's conviction: Lawrence Krauss
1/12

I've been covering this since 2011. Epstein had already been convicted of raping underage girls when he gave Krauss $250k for his Origins Project. Krauss said "I don’t feel tarnished in any way by my relationship with Jeffrey; I feel raised by it.” skepchick.org/2011/04/lawren…
2/12

Krauss used his position as a respected scientist to convince ppl that Epstein's victims were liars: "As a scientist I always judge things on empirical evidence and he always has women ages 19 to 23 around him, but I’ve never seen anything else..."
3/12

"...so as a scientist, my presumption is that whatever the problems were I would believe him over other people." I couldn't believe he'd say this so I emailed him & asked him to clarify. Krauss doubled down, saying among other things that Epstein was the victim.
4/12

In a follow-up comment Lawrence Krauss suggests that the minors Epstein raped were actually just after his money. He also mentions a rumor that Krauss was involved in orgies on Epstein's island. I checked that, and funny thing...
5/12

All I could find was a man claiming in 2006 that he saw "Nobel scientists" & Alexander Sokol engaging in "barely legal" orgies on Epstein's island. Krauss wasn't named, but it's clear now that this was the event Krauss organized in 2006. dealbreaker.com/2006/08/epstei…
6/12

Strange that Krauss would volunteer that he definitely did NOT participate in an orgy that none of us (at the time) knew he was rumored to have participated in. 🤔
7/12

Fast forward to 2015, when more of Jeffrey Epstein's victims were coming forward to fight for justice. Lawrence Krauss still didn't hesitate to publicly speak up for him, telling Reuters "His interest is in interesting people and interesting ideas." skepchick.org/2015/02/scient…
8/12

By now I'd heard about Lawrence Krauss's own creepy behavior. I knew of a woman he propositioned on a @center4inquiry Cruise who complained to CFI. They buried the complaint & invited Krauss back on another cruise. CFI is now run by Krauss's good friend, Richard Dawkins
9/12

Eventually Buzzfeed contacted me asking for dirt, which I happily supplied. After their article on his many misdeeds, he was finally "asked to retire" from ASU and the Origins project that Jeffrey Epstein funded. buzzfeednews.com/article/petera…
10/12

Lawrence Krauss now has a new Origins project: a podcast, with celebs like @pennjillette, @GailCollins, @rickygervais, and @DrBrianMay. AFAIK he hasn't commented publicly on his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein since 2015 but I may have missed it in all the recent news.
11/12

If you're wondering why you didn't know all of this back when it was happening, it's because you don't follow @Skepchicks. We police our own. Loving science and critical thinking doesn't mean you have to look up to rapists & douchebags. xo
12/12