The University of Maine System Board of Trustees has voted to remove former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell’s name from a university building and scholarship program, citing his documented connections to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The 9-5 vote, with one abstention, was held Monday. It applies to the Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions at the University of Maine’s Orono campus and the George J. Mitchell Peace Scholarship, which supports a year of postgraduate study at institutions in Ireland or Northern Ireland.
Mitchell, 93, appears more than 300 times in the extensive Epstein-related records released by the U.S. Department of Justice earlier this year. The documents show that Mitchell was still expected to meet with Epstein in 2013—five years after the financier received a controversial plea agreement in Florida after pleading guilty to two prostitution-related charges, one involving a minor.
In a December 2018 text exchange with former Trump White House strategist Steve Bannon, Epstein referred to Mitchell as “a very close friend when senate majority leader.”
Mitchell has consistently denied any personal misconduct and said he was unaware of Epstein’s sexual abuse of underage girls.
The university formed a task force in February to consider whether Mitchell’s name should remain on university property after the Epstein files became public. Although the panel found no evidence that Mitchell himself had committed wrongdoing, it said continued use of his name could damage public confidence in the university and its reputation, while failing to adequately recognize the experiences of Epstein’s victims and survivors.
Mitchell entered the U.S. Senate in 1980 and went on to win two full terms before leaving elected office in 1995. He later served as President Bill Clinton’s special envoy to Northern Ireland, where he played a leading role in negotiations that produced the 1998 Good Friday Agreement and largely brought an end to decades of sectarian violence.
In 2006, baseball commissioner Bud Selig selected Mitchell to examine steroid and performance-enhancing drug use in Major League Baseball. The Mitchell Report, issued in December 2007, named 89 current and former players as confirmed or suspected users. New York Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens was the most prominent player implicated.
Following the report, MLB expanded its drug-testing program and adopted stricter penalties. Players faced an 80-game suspension for a first positive test, a 162-game ban for a second and a lifetime suspension after a third.
Mitchell also stepped down in February as honorary chairman of the Mitchell Institute, which provides college scholarships to Maine students attending public high schools. That month, officials removed his portrait from the Maine State House in Augusta, where it had been displayed with those of other notable state political figures.