Former Maine Sen. George Mitchell resigned as honorary chair of the Mitchell Institute, the organization announced Thursday.
His resignation comes in the wake of the release of Department of Justice files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Mitchell’s name appears more than 300 times in the 3 million-plus pages the Justice Department released Friday.
“Senator Mitchell tendered his resignation from his role as honorary chair of the organization. We have accepted that resignation,” the Mitchell Institute executive committee said in a statement on the organization’s website Thursday. “We also agree that this is an appropriate time to initiate a thoughtful, responsible process to consider a potential name change.”
The new details about Mitchell’s ties to Epstein have caused significant fallout for the former Democratic Senate majority leader, who has never been directly linked to sex-related crimes.
On Sunday, the U.S.-Ireland Alliance said the messages showing that Mitchell stayed in contact with Epstein after his 2008 conviction caused the organization drop Mitchell’s name from its scholarship program.
Mitchell, 92, who served in the Senate from 1980 to 1995, has continued to deny having any knowledge of Epstein’s criminal activity.
Many of the records related to Mitchell in the latest batch of files are conversations between his assistants and Epstein. Aides’ attempts between 2010 and 2013 to schedule several meetings between the two one-time friends came after Epstein’s 2008 conviction in Florida on sex offenses.
Mitchell has in previous years denied allegations that he met a woman who said she was among Epstein’s sex trafficking victims. Mitchell has also continued to deny having had any knowledge of Epstein’s criminal activity.
The Mitchell Institute said it will continue to pursue its mission of helping Maine students receive a college education.
“Our board and our staff are as committed to that work as ever, motivated by our deserving and remarkable scholar community and future generations of students,” the committee said. “We look forward to another 30 years of awarding millions more in scholarship funding to launch thousands more Maine students into successful collegiate years and beyond.”
