Larry Summers, the former Harvard president and one-time US treasury secretary, is stepping away from public engagements after newly released emails revealed years of contact with Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier whose name continues to radiate political and institutional discomfort.
In a statement provided to Africa Today News, Summers said he was “deeply ashamed” of his decisions and acknowledged the hurt the correspondence has caused. He accepted “full responsibility” for continuing to engage with Epstein long after the financier’s 2008 conviction for exploiting a minor.
The messages, disclosed by a congressional committee last week, show that Summers remained in communication with Epstein up to the eve of Epstein’s 2019 arrest. They depict Epstein as a persistent networker, offering introductions and access to senior global figures, and Summers as a willing, if cautious, participant.
The political reverberations have been swift. Lawmakers are preparing to vote on whether to release the full set of files tied to Epstein. That process gained urgency after the Justice Department said it would open inquiries into Epstein’s connections to several prominent Democrats, including former President Bill Clinton. The investigation was encouraged by President Donald Trump, whose own name appears frequently in the email archive but without evidence of direct involvement. Trump dismissed the matter by casting Epstein’s political alignments as a problem for Democrats, insisting he had a country to run.
Clinton has repeatedly said he had no knowledge of Epstein’s crimes. Summers, who served in Clinton’s Cabinet and later advised President Barack Obama, now faces renewed scrutiny over his own proximity to Epstein. The Center for American Progress confirmed this week that Summers is no longer affiliated with the organisation, removing one of his highest-profile public platforms.
His future on the board of OpenAI, where he has served since 2023, remains unclear. The company has not commented on whether he will continue in the role.
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The email trove paints a picture of regular dinners, favours offered and declined, and occasional political commentary. In one 2016 message, Summers urged Epstein not to involve him in anything connected to Trump, calling the incoming administration’s posture toward conflicts of interest and foreign entanglements a risk he wanted to avoid “a million miles away.”
Summers says he now hopes to “rebuild trust,” but the fallout suggests the process will be long and publicly lived.