Former Harvard President Larry Summers said he plans to step back from his public commitments after his correspondence with the late disgraced sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was made public by US lawmakers.
“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 Epstein,” Summers, who was US Treasury secretary from 1999 to 2001, said in a statement on Monday.
Summers, a Harvard professor and paid contributor to Bloomberg TV, said he will continue to fulfill his teaching obligations, but will step back from public commitments as “one part of my broader effort to rebuild trust and repair relationships with the people closest to me.” The economist also sits on the board of OpenAI.
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform last week released 20,000 documents from Epstein’s estate. They included Summers, 70, discussing President Donald Trump with Epstein, who died in prison in 2019 after being arrested on charges of sex trafficking minors. His death was ruled a suicide.
Released by House Democrats, the documents included exchanges with other high-profile figures, including former Trump adviser Steve Bannon and Peter Mandelson, who was fired earlier this year from his post as the UK ambassador to the US.
In one email, sent in October 2017, Summers told Epstein that Trump was the “world s luckiest guy in terms of opposition, economy etc. still think his world will collapse.”
Summers and Epstein also discussed attitudes toward allegations of sexual harassment. “I’m trying to figure why American elite think if u murder your baby by beating and abandonment it must be irrelevant to your admission to Harvard,” wrote Summers. “But hit on a few women 10 years ago and can’t work at a network or think tank. DO NOT REPEAT THIS INSIGHT.”
Summers was made a tenured professor at Harvard at 28 and won the John Bates Clark Medal given to outstanding American economist under age 40. He resigned as president of Harvard in 2006 after clashing with faculty, including after commenting that innate differences in sex kept women from flourishing in math and science careers. He later became a critic of the school’s response to accusations of antisemitism on campus and argued that Harvard needed to reform, even as he disagreed with the Trump administration’s interference in higher education.
Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, who represents Massachusetts and taught at Harvard’s law school, told CNN on Monday that the university should cut ties with Summers, saying he can’t be trusted with students due to his past relationship with Epstein.
The Harvard Crimson reported the statement from Summers earlier on Monday.
