Larry Summers, the former president of Harvard University who once served as U.S. treasury secretary under former president Bill Clinton, said he would be stepping back from public commitments after the release of emails showing he maintained a relationship with former financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The statement said Summers would step back to “rebuild trust and repair relationships.”
“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,” Summers’ statement said.
The House Oversight Committee released more than 20,000 emails from Epstein’s estate, which included correspondence between Summers and Epstein. The most recent correspondence between the two was from the day before Epstein was arrested in 2019.
“While continuing to fulfill my teaching obligations, I will be stepping back from public commitments as one part of my broader effort to rebuild trust and repair relationships with the people closest to me,” he added in his statement.
Summers teaches several economics courses at Harvard and is currently a paid columnist at Bloomberg News. He also serves on the board of directors at OpenAI.
Summers stepped down from his position as an advisor to the Yale Budget Lab — a Yale University policy shop that offers financial modelling for journalists and policymakers — on Monday, according to the Harvard Crimson. His profile was removed from the lab’s website late Monday.
He has also resigned from his fellowship at the Center for American Progress, where he had served as a senior fellow since 2012.
Get daily National news
“Larry Summers has announced that he is stepping away from public comments immediately, and this includes ending his fellowship at CAP,” a spokesperson for the group wrote in a statement.
Epstein died in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial in 2019 on charges he sexually abused and trafficked underage girls.
-
![]()
‘Nothing to hide’: Trump now urging House Republicans to vote to release Epstein files -
![]()
Republicans divided over Epstein files: Did Trump know more than he claims? -
![]()
U.S. lawmakers set to vote on release of Epstein files — would Trump veto its decision? -
![]()
U.S. House to vote on making thousands of Epstein files public
Emails made public last week showed many in Epstein’s vast network of wealthy and influential friends continued to stay in touch long after his 2008 guilty plea.
A 2019 email to Epstein showed Summers discussing interactions he had with a woman, writing that “I said what are you up to. She said ‘I’m busy.’ I said awfully coy u are.”
Epstein, who often wrote with spelling and grammatical errors, replied, “you reacted well.. annoyed shows caring. , no whining showed strentgh.”
- Man who died on Caribbean cruise was served 33 alcoholic drinks: lawsuit
- If Trump tariffs fertilizer, U.S. lacks reserves ‘to meet domestic demand’
- Judge grants request to unseal records from Epstein 2019 sex-trafficking case
- Canada’s border agency says it protects staff who face work-related threats
-
![]()
Ghislaine Maxwell’s grand jury records to be released in Epstein case, U.S. judge rules -
![]()
Timothée Chalamet, Kylie Jenner wear matching outfits on ‘Marty Supreme’ red carpet -
![]()
U.S. Supreme Court case could expand Trump’s presidential power -
![]()
U.S. President Trump’s influence in Latin America faces new questions
When asked about the emails last week, Summers issued a statement saying he has “great regrets in my life” and that his association with Epstein was a “major error in judgement.”
Summers served as treasury secretary from 1999 to 2001 under Clinton. He was Harvard’s president for five years from 2001 to 2006. He is currently a professor and director of the school’s Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he had asked the Justice Department to investigate Summers and Reid Hoffman, the LinkedIn founder who is also a prominent Democratic donor, after they were mentioned in the 20,000 Epstein-related documents released by the House Oversight Committee last week.
“Epstein was a Democrat, and he is the Democrat’s problem, not the Republican’s problem!” Trump wrote on social media. “Ask Bill Clinton, Reid Hoffman, and Larry Summers about Epstein, they all know about him, don’t waste your time with Trump. I have a Country to run!”
No credible evidence has surfaced that Clinton, Summers or Hoffman were involved in Epstein’s sex trafficking. All have previously denied wrongdoing and have expressed regret about their relationships with him.
Clinton flew on Epstein’s private jet several times before the financier’s 2008 conviction, while Summers accepted philanthropic gifts from Epstein while serving as president of Harvard University. Hoffman has acknowledged meeting with Epstein multiple times in professional situations.
Earlier on Monday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren publicly called on Harvard University to cut ties with Summers.
“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 in a statement.
“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.”
— With files from The Associated Press and Reuters
Comments