Larry Summers takes leave from teaching at Harvard after release of Epstein emails

Former U.S. Treasurer Larry Summers abruptly went on leave Wednesday from teaching at Harvard University, where he once served as president, over recently released emails showing he maintained a friendly relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, Summers' spokesman said.

Summers had been retreating from his public commitments amid the fallout of the emails revelation, but he had maintained that he would continue teaching economics classes at Harvard.

“Mr. Summers has decided it’s in the best interest of the Center for him to go on leave from his role as Director as Harvard undertakes its review. His co-teachers will complete the remaining three class sessions of the courses he has been teaching with them this semester, and he is not scheduled to teach next semester,” Summers spokesman Steven Goldberg said.

Harvard did not mention Summers by name, but the decision to restart the probe follows the release of emails showing that he was friendly with Epstein long after the financier pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from an underage girl in 2008.

However, by Wednesday, the once highly regarded economics expert had been facing increased scrutiny over choosing to stay in the teaching role, and he even appeared before a class of undergraduates on Tuesday while stressing he thought it was important to continue teaching.