Former Treasury Secretary and Harvard President Larry Summers is stepping back from public commitments “to rebuild trust and repair relationships with the people closest to me, ” he said in a statement to the Harvard student newspaper, after President Donald Trump asked the Justice Department to investigate him in connection with the Jeffery Epstein scandal.
Newsweek reached out to Summers for comment via email on Monday.
Why It Matters
Connections between the sex offender Epstein and powerful men, including Trump, are the focus of feverish attention, especially with a House vote expected Tuesday on the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which calls for the release of case documents known as the Epstein files.
Trump has repeatedly denied knowledge of Epstein’s crimes and said he ended their relationship years before the disgraced financier died by suicide in a New York City jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
The president has never been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein and the inclusion of someone’s name in files from the investigation does not imply otherwise.
What To Know
Summers appeared in Epstein-related documents released on November 12, though he has also not been accused of any wrongdoing.
The documents showed Summers and Epstein continued to exchange messages until July 5, 2019, just one day before Epstein was arrested on new sex-trafficking charges, The Harvard Crimson student newspaper reported.
“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 Mr. Epstein,” Summers wrote the Crimson.
Summers served as Treasury secretary under former President Bill Clinton from 1999 to 2001 and as director of the White House’s National Economic Council for ex-President Barack Obama in 2009 and 2010.
Summers was president of Harvard University from 2001 to 2006.
He currently holds Harvard’s highest faculty distinction as a university professor and also serves as director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at the Harvard Kennedy School.
“While continuing to fulfill my teaching obligations, I will be stepping back from public commitments as one part of my broader effort,” Summers said in his statement.
Democratic U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren has called on Harvard to sever ties with Summers.
What People are Saying
Warren, in a statement to CNN: “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 judgement.”
What Happens Next
The House of Representatives intends to hold a vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act on Tuesday, after which it would advance to the Senate and then to the Trump’s desk. The president has said he would sign it.