George Mitchell has resigned from a US scholarship organisation he cofounded more than 30 years ago and which bears his name.
The Mitchell Institute confirmed it has accepted the former senator’s resignation from his honorary chair role. It also said it was considering a “potential name change”.
The move follows the release of further documents linking him to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Among a large tranche released by the US department of justice is a document, written by Epstein, setting out arrangements he was putting in place to collect Mitchell and former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak on his jet and fly them to an airport in New York. The email was written in 2013, five years after Epstein was convicted, and jailed, for the solicitation of a minor in Florida.
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The US files include emails and scheduling reminders detailing a meeting between Mitchell and Epstein planned for November 6th, 2013. It is not clear if the meeting took place.
The files also show the convicted sex offender tried to contact Mitchell a number of times between 2010 and 2013 to arrange meetings. The files include a message from an unidentified sender to Epstein claiming Mitchell had “called back ... he would love to speak with you”.
No correspondence from Mitchell to Epstein has emerged in the files.
Earlier this week, Queen’s University Belfast cut ties with Mitchell, who played a central role in brokering the 1998 Belfast Agreement.
A commemorative bust and portrait of its former chancellor were removed from the university overnight. Mitchell’s name was also taken from its Institute of Global Peace, Security and Justice.
Assurances were given to Queen’s by Mitchell that he had no contact with Epstein following his first conviction in 2008, but new information contained in the latest tranche of US files on the financier show this “to be incorrect”, the university said.
Mitchell (92) has repeatedly denied all wrongdoing and said he “profoundly regrets ever having known Jeffrey Epstein and condemns, without reservation, the horrific harm Epstein inflicted on so many women”.
In announcing his departure on its website on Thursday, the Mitchell Institute did not reference his association with Epstein.
Since 1995, the organisation has awarded scholarships to students at public schools in Maine – Mitchell’s home state.
The institute’s executive committee said the senator’s resignation was tendered in “early February”.
“We have accepted that resignation,” it said. “We also agree that this is an appropriate time to initiate a thoughtful, responsible process to consider a potential name change.”
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An honorary degree was awarded by Queen’s to Mitchell in 1997 but there no are plans to remove it, the university has confirmed.
“We are taking no further action,” a Queen’s spokesman said on Friday.
Ulster University also awarded the former democratic senator an honorary degree in 2006. It did not respond to queries from The Irish Times.
The are 301 references to “George Mitchell” in the latest Epstein files.
Since the release of the files last Friday, pressure has mounted on Belfast City Council to remove Mitchell’s Freedom of the City award. The civic award was given to Mitchell in 2018.
The Green Party’s Áine Groogan wrote to the council’s chief executive asking for the honour to be revoked.
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“Reviewing the Freedom of the City honour and making appropriate changes would demonstrate Belfast City Council’s commitment to upholding the highest standards of integrity,” the former deputy lord mayor said.
Councillors from the Alliance Party and People Before Profit have also expressed support for its removal.
A spokeswoman for Belfast City Council said that any decision to rescind an award would be “a matter for elected members to decide, via the council’s decision-making processes”.
