Harvard University is launching a new investigation into former president Larry Summers over his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, following the release of thousands of documents from a congressional oversight committee. The inquiry will also examine other university affiliates named in the documents, including Summers’s wife, Elisa New, and nearly a dozen others.
A Harvard spokesperson confirmed the investigation to the Harvard Crimson on Tuesday night, stating that the university is reviewing information concerning individuals at Harvard included in the newly released Epstein documents to evaluate what actions may be warranted. Separately, OpenAI announced that Summers had resigned from its board, a decision he confirmed in his own statement.
Summers, who served as US Treasury Secretary under Bill Clinton, has also stepped down from roles at Bloomberg, the New York Times, and the Center for American Progress thinktank. The documents, released nearly a week ago by the House Oversight Committee, include correspondence between Epstein and Summers, in which Summers appears to seek advice from Epstein on pursuing a romantic relationship with a woman he described as his mentee.
In a statement on Monday, Summers said he was “deeply ashamed” of his actions and would step back from public engagements, though he plans to continue teaching at Harvard. Senator Elizabeth Warren criticised Summers, saying his correspondence showed “monumentally bad judgment” and that he should not be trusted to teach or advise the government.
The investigation follows a previous Harvard review into its ties with Epstein, which found that Epstein donated about $9m to the school between 1998 and 2008. Epstein died in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
