Amid Epstein Fallout, Larry Summers Apologizes

Larry Summers, the former Harvard president and Treasury secretary, is stepping back from public roles after his email exchanges with Jeffrey Epstein surfaced in a batch of newly released documents. "I am deeply ashamed of my actions and recognize the pain they have caused," Summers said Monday, adding that he would take a break from his public commitments as part of a "broader effort to rebuild trust and repair relationships with the people closest to me." Summers said he would continue to teach at Harvard to fulfill his responsibilities to students, though Sen. Elizabeth Warren (who has opposed Summers on issues of financial regulation for more than a decade) has called on the university to cut ties with Summers over his "monumentally bad judgement" in continuing to communicate with Epstein even after knowing of his sex crimes.

The emails between Summers and the late financier, which dated from at least 2013 to 2019, included what the Wall Street Journal calls "banter about women" and a request for advice on how to play hard to get with someone Summers was interested in romantically. CNN reports the emails also included sexist remarks from Summers, who resigned from the Harvard presidency after a vote of no confidence by the faculty in 2006 after he suggested in a speech that men might be more successful in the sciences due to genetic differences between males and females. Also among the emails, per the Harvard Crimson, were requests from Summers (who has been married since 2005) for advice on how to pursue a woman he described as a mentee. Amid that conversation, Epstein referred to himself as Summers' "wing man."