Overview
- Chapman spokesperson Robert Hitchcock confirmed on March 3 that Horner is no longer employed at the university and declined to say whether he resigned or was dismissed.
- DOJ-released emails show Horner visited Epstein’s Zorro Ranch in 2012 as a Montana State University professor and sought funding for his DinoChicken project, cutting a proposal from about $15,000 to $8,650 before Epstein replied, “great, check made to ???”.
- The 2012 correspondence includes travel logistics with Epstein’s assistant Lesley Groff and thank-you notes referencing “Jeffrey and the girls.”
- Reporting cites DOJ files indicating Horner appears to have visited the ranch again in 2016 with a graduate student on a geology tour.
- Horner has called pursuing Epstein as a donor “extremely poor judgment,” denied knowing of broader crimes, said he observed nothing suspicious at the ranch, and expressed regret for using the term “girls.”