In a dramatic fall from grace, former US Treasury Secretary and Harvard professor Larry Summers has declared he will withdraw from public life following the disclosure of troubling email exchanges with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
A Public Apology and Withdrawal
The economist, a prominent figure who served in both the Clinton and Obama administrations, issued a stark apology on Monday. "I am deeply ashamed of my actions and recognise the pain they have caused," Summers told Politico. He added, "I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr. Epstein."
Summers confirmed that while he would honour his teaching duties at Harvard, he would be "stepping back from public commitments" as part of an effort to rebuild trust with those close to him.
Damning Email Contents Revealed
The communications, released last week by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, have cast a harsh light on the relationships of powerful figures with the disgraced financier. While much attention centred on mentions of former President Donald Trump, Summers's correspondence has proven equally damaging.
According to reports, the emails show that Summers was in contact with Epstein after the financier pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2008. In one particularly jarring email from October 2017, Summers wrote to Epstein, "I observed that half of the IQ in the world was possessed by women," without, as he noted, mentioning they represent over 51 percent of the population.
Further exchanges, reported by The Harvard Crimson and dated between November 2018 and July 2019, revealed Summers sought Epstein's advice on pursuing a woman he described as a mentee. In a November 2018 message, Epstein referred to himself as Summers's "wing man." A spokesperson for Summers has since asserted that the woman was never his student.
Political Repercussions and Calls for Action
The scandal has triggered immediate political consequences. Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat and former Harvard professor, has publicly called for the university to sever its 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 told CNN.
She forcefully argued that if Summers "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."
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives is expected to hold a vote to compel the Justice Department to release the remainder of the Epstein files. In a notable shift, former President Trump has stated he would sign such a measure into law if it passes Congress, despite previously labelling the controversy a "Democrat hoax."
