Martin Nowak Epstein files disturbing exchange
Recent releases from the Jeffrey Epstein Files have drawn renewed attention to Harvard University professor Martin A. Nowak, whose name appears in correspondence with the late convicted sex offender — including a disturbing exchange that surfaced in public excerpts of the documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice on January 30, 2026.
Martin Nowak is an Austrian-born mathematics and biology professor at Harvard University, known for his work on evolutionary dynamics. His name appears in the newly released Epstein files as part of an exchange in which he purportedly wrote a phrase involving a “spy,” and in response Epstein allegedly asked: “did you torture her?” — a line that has triggered alarm and serious questions online about the nature of their correspondence.
The documents linking Nowak to Epstein are part of a broader tranche released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which made millions of pages of emails, reports and other material public, notwithstanding ongoing concerns about redactions and sensitive content.
Nowak’s connection to Epstein is not new. Earlier university reviews found that Epstein had donated millions to the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, a research centre Nowak led, and that Epstein maintained access to a personal office in that centre for years after his 2008 conviction for sex crimes. That relationship led to harsh internal sanctions by Harvard in 2020, including restrictions on Nowak’s research roles and the eventual closure of the programme amid findings that Epstein’s presence and influence violated university policy.
Harvard later lifted some sanctions, and Nowak remains on faculty, but the recent public release of the Epstein files has put his past associations back into the spotlight, prompting renewed scrutiny from academics and the public alike.
Such exchanges and the broader context of Epstein’s relationships with powerful figures have generated concern about ethical oversight, institutional accountability and the implications of private communications involving well-known academics.
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