Larry Summers to step back from public commitments over Epstein ties

Larry Summers, a former Harvard University president and financial adviser to two U.S. presidents, on Monday said he was "deeply ashamed" of staying in touch with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and now plans to step back from his public commitments.

In a statement, Summers said he recognized the pain his actions had caused.

"While continuing to fulfill my teaching obligations, I will be stepping back from public commitments as one part of my broader effort to rebuild trust and repair relationships with the people closest to me," he wrote.

The statement came after newly surfaced emails revealed the depth of Summers' correspondence with Epstein. U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Monday took aim at her former employer, Harvard University, saying the school should end its relationship with Summers.

In a statement, Warren said Summers' "willingness to cozy up to a convicted sex offender demonstrates monumentally bad judgment." She also said, "If he 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.”

Summers, an economist and former U.S. Treasury secretary under former President Bill Clinton, was president of Harvard from 2001 to 2006. He is listed online as the Charles W. Eliot University Professor at the Harvard Kennedy School.

Summers has previously said he regrets his association with Epstein. He has not been accused of wrongdoing. But the trove of emails released last week by Democrats in Congress showed a long period of correspondence between Summers and Epstein. In one case, Summers, who is married, sought advice about a woman, with Epstein calling himself Summers' "wing man," in 2018, as detailed by the Harvard Crimson.

Warren's comments were first reported by CNN. Harvard did not respond to a request for comment.

Summers has long been a polarizing figure — a high-level financial adviser with a reputation as a hard-driving boss at the helm of Harvard, he came under fire in 2005 for comments questioning the "aptitude" of women in science.

Summers had been scheduled to appear at a WBUR CitySpace event this week, but he canceled.

Epstein died in jail in 2019, reportedly by suicide. His co-conspirator abusing underage girls, Ghislaine Maxwell, remains in prison but recently had her conditions improved.

After fighting the release of the Epstein files for months, President Trump over the weekend did an about-face and supported their release, saying, "we have nothing to hide."