The New York Times has severed its professional relationship with former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers after the disclosure of his extensive email correspondence with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Contract Termination and Public Fallout
On Tuesday, the publication confirmed it would not renew Summers' contract as a contributing writer for New York Times Opinion, which had commenced in January 2025. Charlie Stadtlander, the Times' executive director for media relations and communications, stated: "Lawrence Summers was a contributing writer for New York Times Opinion on a one-year contract beginning in January 2025. We do not intend to renew this contract. We thank him for his contributions."
This decision represents the latest professional consequence for Summers following last week's release of thousands of documents related to Epstein by House Republicans. The files revealed that Summers maintained communication with Epstein until 5 July 2019, merely one day before Epstein's arrest on sex trafficking charges.
Revealing Email Exchanges
The disclosed correspondence showed Epstein describing himself as Summers' "wing man" in a 2018 email. The exchanges continued long after Epstein's 2008 guilty plea for soliciting prostitution from a minor.
In one particularly revealing email from 16 March 2019, Summers discussed his interactions with a woman with Epstein, writing: "I said what are you up to. She said 'I'm busy'. I said awfully coy u are." Epstein responded with advice, despite numerous spelling and grammatical errors: "You reacted well.. annoyed shows caring. , no whining showed strentgh."
Further messages showed Summers seeking Epstein's counsel on relationship matters, including asking about the probability of "getting horizontal" with a woman they referred to as "peril." Epstein even dictated messages for Summers to send, suggesting: "Just send, happy for the time we spent together- have fun see you soon."
Wider Institutional Repercussions
The fallout has extended beyond the New York Times. The left-leaning thinktank Center for American Progress confirmed that Summers' position as "distinguished senior fellow" had concluded. Similarly, the Budget Lab at Yale announced that Summers was no longer part of their advisory group.
However, OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT where Summers joined the board of directors in November 2023, has declined to comment on whether he will step down from his position.
The revelations prompted former President Donald Trump to announce on Truth Social that he would request the US Department of Justice and FBI to investigate Epstein's "involvement and relationship" with Summers and other prominent Democrats and business leaders, though notably no Republicans were mentioned.
Summers, who served as US treasury secretary from 1999 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton and stepped down as Harvard president in 2006, issued a statement on Monday expressing deep shame for his actions. He acknowledged the pain caused and took "full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr Epstein."
He stated he would step back from public commitments to "rebuild trust and repair relationships with the people closest to me," while continuing to fulfill his teaching obligations at Harvard, where he serves as a director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government.
