Former Senator Bob Kerrey Resigns From Nebraska Start-Up Amid Epstein Emails

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https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/25/us/b ... stein.html

Bob Kerrey, the former U.S. senator from Nebraska, has resigned from the board of a clean energy start-up in the state after documents released by the Department of Justice indicated that Mr. Kerrey and Jeffrey Epstein had met and corresponded over email more than a decade ago.

Mr. Kerrey confirmed the resignation, which occurred on Friday, over text message on Wednesday, saying that he resigned from the company, Monolith, because he was concerned the revelations would “make it difficult for them to succeed.”

“I will offer no defense of my meetings with Jeffrey Epstein,” Mr. Kerrey said. “If I knew then what I know now, I would not have said yes to a meeting.”

The correspondence occurred several years after Mr. Epstein, the financier who died by suicide in 2019 while facing sex-trafficking charges, had pleaded guilty in 2008 to charges of solicitation of prostitution with a minor.

Monolith, the Nebraska start-up, is an energy company that focuses on producing low-emission hydrogen and carbon black, a substance used in tires and other rubber products. Mr. Kerrey had been chairman of the board, a position he had held for years. Monolith did not respond to a request for comment.