- Noam Chomsky sought financial advice from Jeffrey Epstein in 2018, according to a new report.
- The Wall Street Journal reported that Epstein helped Chomsky move $270,000 between bank accounts.
Renowned academic and political activist Noam Chomsky sought sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's help with managing financial transactions totaling over a quarter million dollars, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
In late April, the Journal revealed that Chomsky and Epstein met multiple times, even after Epstein pled guilty in 2008 to soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution.
New reporting from the outlet highlighted that beyond a group dinner with Woody Allen, Epstein helped Chomsky move large sums of money, which the academic said was for a "technicality" related to distributing funds from a previous marriage.
Chomsky confirmed to the outlet that in March 2018, he received $270,000 from a bank account associated with Epstein, but said it was only to reorganize his own funds, and "did not involve one penny from Epstein."
The academic said that after his previous wife died 15 years ago, he needed financial guidance for a "pure technicality."
"Epstein gave me advice on how to transfer funds from one account of mine to another," Chomsky told Insider in an emailed statement. "The simplest way was to pass it through his office."
He also denied that he ever took money from Epstein. "Pure technicality," Chomsky added. "No payments took place."
Epstein, a disgraced financier who was charged with sex trafficking, died in his Manhattan jail cell in 2019 by suicide as he awaited a trial.
Previously, Epstein's infamous "black book" of contacts shed light on who stepped aboard his private jet, and in May, the Journal's inspection of his calendar helped highlight who else Epstein associated with.