Freshly disclosed correspondence has unveiled the disturbing depth of the relationship between former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, painting a picture of intimate confidantes sharing personal and political views over several years.
The Email Exchanges: A Troubling Friendship
Republican legislators this week released approximately 20,000 emails from the Epstein estate, among which were numerous exchanges between the financier and the prominent economist. These communications, spanning from 2013 to early 2019, reveal Summers maintaining congenial contact with the convicted child sex trafficker well into the final months before Epstein's arrest.
In one particularly revealing 2017 email, Summers shared controversial thoughts with Epstein about Harvard University's admissions policies, writing: "I'm trying to figure why [the] American elite think if u murder your baby by beating and abandonment it must be irrelevant to your admission to Harvard. But hit on a few women 10 years ago and can't work at a network or think tank." He notably concluded with "DO NOT REPEAT THIS INSIGHT."
Political Discussions and Personal Confidences
The email trove shows the two men discussing various topics, including Summers' contempt for Donald Trump and details of philanthropic social networking. Perhaps most disturbingly, Summers confided in Epstein about his personal relationships, with the convicted sex offender offering advice on romantic pursuits.
In a 16 March 2019 exchange, just months before Epstein's arrest, Summers described being rebuffed by an unnamed woman. Epstein responded: "shes smart. making you pay for past errors. ignore the daddy im going to go out with the motorcycle guy, you reacted well.. annoyed shows caring., no whining showed strentgh."
Fallout and Regrets
Summers, who served as treasury secretary under Bill Clinton and later directed Barack Obama's National Economic Council, has repeatedly expressed regret about his association with Epstein. Following a previous Wall Street Journal revelation about their emails in 2023, a spokesperson for Summers stated he "deeply regrets being in contact with Epstein after his conviction."
This week, Summers reiterated his remorse to the Harvard Crimson, writing: "I have great regrets in my life. As I have said before, my association with Jeffrey Epstein was a major error of judgement."
The connection between Summers and Epstein extended beyond emails. Epstein donated more than $9 million to Harvard and its affiliated programs between 1998 and 2008, and was appointed a visiting fellow despite later university conclusions that he "lacked the academic qualifications" for the position.
According to Wall Street Journal reporting, Summers began asking Epstein for philanthropic advice for his wife, Harvard professor Elisa New, after leaving the White House. The two men met approximately a dozen times between 2013 and 2016, often for dinner, and Epstein's foundations made donations to projects connected to Summers' wife.
The email release has prompted Donald Trump to announce on Truth Social that he would ask the Department of Justice and FBI to investigate Epstein's "involvement and relationship" with Summers among other prominent figures.
