'Deeply Ashamed': Larry Summers Withdraws From Public Duties As Epstein Files Reveal Exchanges
The emails showed extensive exchanges between Summers and Epstein including messages in which Summers made sexist remarks and even sought romantic advice from the convicted sex offender in 2019.
Former Harvard University president Larry Summers has announced he will step back from his public duties after the release of the Epstein files revealed years of correspondence between the former US treasury secretary and the disgraced financier.
The newly released emails, published last week, showed extensive exchanges between Summers and Jeffrey Epstein including messages in which Summers made sexist remarks and even sought romantic advice from the convicted sex offender in 2019. The revelations have intensified scrutiny of his long-running association with Epstein.
In his first statement since the emails surfaced, Summers said he was “deeply ashamed.”
“I am deeply ashamed of my actions and recognize the pain they have caused. I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr. Epstein,” he said.
Summers added that while he will continue teaching, he will withdraw from public engagements “as one part of my broader effort to rebuild trust and repair relationships with the people closest to me.”
Summers’ move follows mounting calls, including from Senator Elizabeth Warren, urging Harvard to sever its association with the former treasury secretary over his links to Epstein.
Speaking to CNN, Warren, a former Harvard Law School professor, said Summers “cannot be trusted” given his willingness to maintain contact with Epstein despite the public record of his crimes.
“For decades, Larry Summers has demonstrated his attraction to serving the wealthy and well-connected, but his willingness to cozy up to a convicted sex offender demonstrates monumentally bad judgment,” Warren said. “If he had so little ability to distance himself from Jeffrey Epstein even after all that was publicly known about Epstein’s sex offenses involving underage girls, then Summers cannot be trusted to advise our nation’s politicians, policymakers, and institutions — or teach a generation of students at Harvard or anywhere else.”
