George Mitchell & the Epstein scandal

WMTW  - Former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell, of Maine, has resigned from the scholarship institute that bears his name.  Mitchell, 92, has said one of his proudest accomplishments in life was the creation of the Mitchell Institute on Washington Avenue in Portland.

For several decades, the Mitchell Institute has given at least one student from every public high school in Maine a $10,000 scholarship.

The Mitchell Institute Executive Committee said Thursday that Mitchell tendered his resignation from his role as honorary chair of the organization.

"We also agree that this is an appropriate time to initiate a thoughtful, responsible process to consider a potential name change," the committee said in a statement.

Mitchell served as a United States senator from 1980 to 1995 and is well known for his diplomacy. He is credited with successfully brokering a peace deal in Northern Ireland in 1998, effectively ending decades of conflict.

This past weekend, the U.S.-Ireland Alliance voted to remove Mitchell's name from its scholarship. In addition, Queen's University in Belfast, Northern Ireland, decided to remove a bust of Mitchell from its campus.

These actions were taken after Mitchell's name appeared more than 300 times in the latest release of documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

One document in particular details an encounter Mitchell allegedly had with a girl. According to the documents, the girl expressed being scared and reported having to leave for school.

An FBI document dated December 2020 focused on that girl, whose name is redacted. The female described having sex multiple times with Mitchell after Epstein arranged for her to travel to Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., according to the documents.

The girl claimed, Mitchell asked for oral sex and sex, so she complied. According to the documents, the girl, "did what she was told."

Mitchell's spokesperson responded to the allegations with a written statement that read: "Senator Mitchell reiterates unequivocally that he never met, spoke with, or had any contact ... with any underage women."

"Senator Mitchell profoundly regrets ever having known Jeffrey Epstein and condemns, without reservation, the horrific harm Epstein inflicted on so many women," Mitchell's spokesperson went on to say in the statement.