A series of emails released by Republican legislators this week has shed light on the close relationship between convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers. The exchanges, spanning from 2013 to early 2019, show the two men sharing personal and political views, with Summers confiding in Epstein about romantic setbacks and expressing controversial opinions.
In one 2017 email, Summers wrote to Epstein about Harvard University's admissions debate, saying: 'I'm trying to figure why [the] American elite think if u murder your baby by beating and abandonment it must be irrelevant to your admission to Harvard. But hit on a few women 10 years ago and can’t work at a network or think tank.' Summers, a former Harvard president who resigned after making sexist comments, also remarked that 'half of the IQ in [the] world was possessed by women'.
The emails show that Summers maintained contact with Epstein until months before Epstein's arrest in 2019. In a March 2019 exchange, Summers discussed romantic gestures towards an unnamed woman, with Epstein responding: 'shes smart. making you pay for past errors... ignore the daddy im going to go out with the motorcycle guy, you reacted well.' Summers has previously stated he 'deeply regrets' his association with Epstein.
Epstein, who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking, donated over $9 million to Harvard between 1998 and 2008 and was appointed a visiting fellow. The university later admitted he lacked the qualifications for the role. Summers served as Harvard president from 2001 to 2006 and later as director of the National Economic Council under President Barack Obama.
Former President Donald Trump has called for an investigation into Epstein's relationship with Summers and other Democrats. The release of 20,000 emails by Republican lawmakers follows Democratic disclosures suggesting Epstein believed Trump was aware of Ghislaine Maxwell's conduct.
