EFTA02525659.pdf

From: Lawrence Kraus Sent: Wednesday, February 14, 2018 2:29 AM To: jeffrey E. Subject: Fwd: CLARIFICATION: response to your email Importance: High Lawrence M. Krauss Director, The Origins Project at ASU Co-Director=Cosmology Initiative Foundation =rofessor School of =arth & S 'ace Ex • loration and Ph sics De•artment Arizona=State Universi P.O. Box 871404 Tern •e AZ -Origins Project 10 Year =elebration- Be a part of something 10 years in the making! April 5.9th 2018 — Visit for more info =/div> Begin=forwarded message: From: =/b>Lawrence Kraus Subject: =/b>Re: =LARIFICATION: response to your email Date: =/b>February 13, 2018 at 4:24:45 PM =ST To: =/b>Peter Aldhous > The email from Neil =hat I sent you is the only one generated from the Director in this =egard. There is no document I have received from Perimeter =onfirming either the false hearsay claim you have already made, or this =ew claim of yours. As I have been invited back numerous times by =olleagues there in the interim, empirical evidence suggests otherwise. =nbsp;If there had been any such formal complaint and investigation and =ecision, I would have heard about it, or been asked to participate in =t. Your source has already demonstrated they have lied once about =y "immediate emoval and banning". So unless you have some =ositive documentary evidence, this s a false allegation. It was also your =rofessional obligation to investigate allegations, other than just make =hem, but in every case I have done your investigating for you, when you =ould have discovered the numerous claims were false if you had tried. =nbsp;You demonstrated no interest in accurate reporting or in standard =ournalistic standards, nor have you EFTA_R1_01665562 EFTA02525659 demonstrated any interest in the =efinition of sexual harassment in making many unrelated defamatory =laims against me. Enough. LMK Lawrence M. =rauss Director, The Origins Project at ASU Co-Director, Cosmology Initiative Foundation Professor School of Earth & Space Exploration and Physics =epartment Arizona State Universit , P.O. Box =71404, Tern AZ 85287-1404 -Origins Project =0 Year Celebration- Be a part of something 10 years in the making! April 5-9th 2018 — Visit for more info <https://www.originsl0year.comk =/div> On Feb 13, 2018, at 2:54 PM, Peter Aldhous > wrote: Dr. Krauss: It is my professional obligation, when reporting on =llegations like these, to seek comment and clarification. Thank you for sending the email from Neil Turok. We have =aised this with the Perimeter Institute, which has clarified its =osition, as follows: During the event, a sexual =arassment complaint was filed with the administration against you. =/span> In 2012, as part of a =ormal review of its internal policies, the institute made a decision =hat you would not be invited to return. 2 EFTA_R1_01665563 EFTA02525660  If you wish to further comment on or clarify any of these =oints, please get in touch with us by tomorrow (Weds). Thanks, Peter Aldhous =/span> On 2/12/18 8:20 AM, Lawrence Krauss wrote: Although I wasn't going to bother and shouldn't= need to, just one example among many: in this case 17 months after Q2C, email from the Director of the Perimeter Institute. I don't know how it could be much =learer.. (I have redacted out the rest of the body of the letter because it refers to a hiring issue that is irrelevant to =ou).. Now some questions you need to answer: 1. Is it appropriate for journalists to repeatedly require explicit evidence from someone in order to defend themselves from false allegations, but at the same time be willing to accept false claims against others on face value if it confirms what they want to hear when writing a story? 2. Does such a low standard of journalistic integrity hurt efforts to address real problems? 3. Isn't repeatedly attempting to promote and disseminate false or damaging claims or rumors about someone harassment? 4. Would you argue that offending someone is equivalent to harassment? S. After so many false and/or inappropriate allegations, do you see a pattern emerging? Perhaps =here is an interesting, and real, story there. Begin forwarded message: From: "Neil Turok" Subject: Holden XXX Date: March 31, 2011at 9:30:26 AM MST To: Dear Larry, I hope you're doing very well. It was nice to have you at PI for the Q2C Festival and I do hope you'll be able to visit again soon. I'm writing in regard to Holden XXX, who I have been working with recently ... 3 EFTA_R1_01665564 EFTA02525661  With my best wishes, Neil On Feb 9, 2018, at 3:04 PM, Lawrence Krauss <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]» wrote: Oh yes, definitely and demonstrably.. I dispute everything except the first bullet point, with substantial evidentiary email communication... so you had =etter alert whoever went on the record at the perimeter institute about the consequences of making false allegations. LMK Lawrence M. Krauss Director, The Origins Project at =SU Co-Director, Cosmology =nitiative Foundation =rofessor School of Earth & Space Exploration and Physics Department Arizona State =niversity, P.O. Box =71404, Tempe, AZ 85287-1404 -Origins Project 10 Year =elebration- Be a part of =omething 10 years in the =aking! April 5.9th 2018 — Visit for more =nfo <https://www.originsl0year.com/> <image002.png> On Feb 9, 2018, at 12:44 PM, Peter Aldhous < wrote: Dr. Krauss: To clarify, we plan to publish each of the following =tatements, which have all been confirmed on the record by the Perimeter =nstitute: 4 EFTA_R1_01665565 EFTA02525662  In October of 2009, you =ent to Waterloo, Ontario, to be a guest speaker at the Quantum to =osmos Festival at the Perimeter =nstitute. N During the event, a sexual harassment complaint was filed =gainst you. You were immediately removed from the premises and banned =rom ever coming back. The institute would not provide more details to respect the =omplainant's privacy. Do you dispute any of these statements? If you'd like to further clarify your position on =hese statements, please contact me before 12 noon Pacific on Saturday, =eb 10. Peter Aldhous Peter Aldhous Science reporter = BuzzFeed News tel cel PGP Fingerprint: 225F B2AF 488E 6E3D B1EA 7F9A B96E BF7D 9CB2 9B16 Send secure =ips On =hu, Feb 8, 2018 at 12:00 PM, Lawrence Krauss wrote: Peter: Got your phone call yesterday shortly before I finished a lecture and then headed to the airport to return home late last night, as I had indicated in my last email. I am responding below to your issues, which are yet again false and/or misleading. I cannot keep doing this. = have told you repeatedly that there is no basis for a story here. I =nd others have responded to false allegations, but you and your colleagues have continued to 5 EFTA_R1_01665566 EFTA02525663 barrage me, my family, and my colleagues with a series of false allegations and innuendo for the past 6 months. So it =eems you have decided to produce some kind of defamatory story, independent of evidence to the contrary, and you are asking me to help you do your work to write it. I don't =now what else to say. I =sk you again to stop this harassment, and not write a story based on false and misleading defamatory allegations to justify some foregone conclusion that might defame me and/or other individuals or groups, and in the process can hurt genuine efforts by many of us to address important issues, from encouraging diversity in STEM education around the world, to fighting ideological efforts that endorse sexism, racism, homophobia or attempt to suppress free speech and free thought. =nbsp; MAK On Feb =, 2018, at 9:48 AM, Peter Aldhous wrote: Or. Krauss: Since our earlier correspondence, further incidents have =ome to our attention. I've outlined the details below and would =ery much like to include your response to each in our story. =/span> —At the Perimeter Institute's "Quantum to Cosmos" Festival in October 2009, a woman =ade a formal complaint of sexual harassment against you. The institute =mmediately removed you from the premises and banned you from ever =oming back. I am not made aware of any formal complaint of sexual harassment against me at Perimeter, which would have resulted in either formal proceedings or letters or emails to me. I did attend the "Quantum to =osmos" Festival for several days and was never 'removed from the premises'. After I left I received thanks and further assistance from the staff. Nor was = banned from returning to Perimeter. I =ave maintained a collegial relationship with various colleagues there who have invited me to return on several =ccasions. —Former =mployees of the Origins Project told us that the working =nvironment sometimes made them feel uncomfortable, partly because of =our behavior, which they described as sometimes unprofessional and =uvenile. They called you a "sexist" and a =E2 womanizer." In particular, they described the following =ncidents: In =arly 2016, after a transgender panelist for an upcoming event =egotiated a higher appearance fee, you joked at a group meeting that =E2 she's got balls," two witnesses said. =/span> During=another meeting around that time, you showed off a vaguely suggestive =oodle you had made of a woman bent over, two witnesses said. =/span> 6 EFTA_R1_01665567 EFTA02525664  =9CIt was like being in a room with a 5-year-old and a 15-year-old boy =t the same time," one former employee said. "He had no =liter." At a =inner event at the school's University Club in October 2015, a =9- year-old undergraduate said she was left feeling acutely =ncomfortable when you looked at her from head to toe, smirked, and told =er that you liked the short jumper she was wearing. Two witnesses =onfirmed her account. In =pril 2016, another staffer angrily posted on Facebook about how you =E2 suggested that I should dress up like a hula girl while =dvertising for an event." * Another employee was so upset by your behavior that she =tarted keeping a written record of offensive incidents. "<=pan =tyle="font-size:11ptbackground-color:rgb(255,255,255);font- variant-lig=tures:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white=space:pre-wrar class=">Said he understood why people didn't like to =ire women of child bearing age because it isn't fair to have to pay =aternity benefit," she wrote in one entry. "Said he's =oing to buy me birth control so I don't get pregnant and inconvenience =im. Asked if I was planning to get pregnant." I am proud that the Origins Project has been an open and supportive program since it was =reated. Our team works in a transparent environment of candor and trust, where people can thrive and discuss all issues openly and frankly with mutual respect as part of a safe supportive team. =nbsp; Staff are encouraged to provide feedback and I and my managers have regular meetings with staff to discuss potential problems and concerns. No one =as ever has brought up complaints along any of these lines to any of us, nor has anyone complained to the University in this regard about any such issues. Quite =he contrary. Further =iscellaneous information: You are politically liberal. In your public appearances, =ritings, and tweets, you have decried sexism, racism, and homophobia. =/span> You tweet provocatively about subjects including Islam, =uslims, Christianity, and Christians. Recently, you have tweeted links =o articles questioning whether the ilmetoo movement has gone too =ar. We also noticed your recent tweet about growing diversity in =he skeptic movement. Our own reporting on that issue presents a complex =icture. Several female skeptics, =fter sharing personal accounts of misogyny and harassment by men in the community, =ave been subjected to Gamergate-style online attacks, including rape and death =hreats. In recent years, famous freethinkers have =een criticized for their Islamophobia, for cheering the alt-right media =ersonality Milo Yiannopoulos, and for lampooning =eminism and gender theory. Do =ou had any comments on the view that parts of the skeptic/atheist =ovement appear to be sliding into the =It-right? Again, if you wish to comment on or clarify any of these =oints, please get in touch with us as soon as possible. If I do not =espond immediately it is because I am on another call or teaching, so =lease leave the best phone number to reach you. Thanks, Peter Aldhous 7 EFTA_R1_01665568 EFTA02525665 Peter Aldhous, =hD Science reporter I BuzzFeed =ews Lawrence M. Krauss Director, The Origins Project at =SU Co-Director, Cosmology =nitiative Foundation =rofessor School of Earth & Space Exploration and Physics Department Arizona State Universi P.O. Box 871404 Tem •e AZ 85287-1404 -Origins Project 10 Year =elebration- Be a part of =omething 10 years in the =aking! April 5.9th 2018 — Visit for more =nfo <image002.png> Peter Aldhous Science reporter = BuzzFeed =ews 8 EFTA_R1_01665569 EFTA02525666  tel ce Lawrence M. Krauss Director, The Origins Project at ASU Co-Director, Cosmology =nitiative Foundation =rofessor School of Earth & Space Exploration and Physics Department Arizona State Universit P.O. Box 871404 Tem se AZ 85287-1404 -Origins Project 10 Year Celebration- Be a part of something 10 years in the =aking! April 5-9th 2018 =E2 Visit for more info <https://www.originsl0year.com/> <image002.png> Peter Aldhous, PhD Science reporter I BuzzFeed News 9 EFTA_R1_01665570 EFTA02525667