Revealed Exchanges Illustrate Epstein and Larry Summers as Close Associates

A series of communications between found guilty sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein and ex- US treasury head Larry Summers were released this week, indicating the pair acted as confidants.

Their correspondence, spanning 2013 to early 2019, show the two men discussing private – and at times questionable – opinions on political matters and interpersonal dynamics.

“I’m trying to understand why [the] American elite feel if u take the life of your baby by violence and desertion it must be unimportant to your admission to Harvard,”|“I’m trying to|I am attempting to|I'm struggling to} determine why [the] American elite feel if u murder your baby by physical abuse and desertion it must be irrelevant to your acceptance to Harvard,”} Summers stated to Epstein in a 2017 message. “But flirted with a few women 10 years ago and are unable to work at a network or think tank. DO NOT REPEAT THIS IDEA.”

During that period, Harvard University was grappling with an enrollment discussion after a formerly incarcerated woman’s acceptance to a PhD program. Summers, a ex- president of the university who resigned amid a controversy after making discriminatory comments about female academics, continued in the message to Epstein: I noted that half of the IQ in [the] world was held by women without noting they are more than 51 percent of population.”

Summers was at one time a prominent figure in the Democratic Party circles – a ex- treasury secretary in the Clinton administration, one of the key designers of Barack Obama’s approach to the economic downturn, and a steadfast figure in the progressive media. But concerns have persisted about his relationship with Epstein, a former connection of Donald Trump. Epstein was accused of a broad child sex trafficking operation before his demise in jail in 2019 in New York City.

Following publication of a prior batch of emails between Epstein and Summers in a 2023 article, a representative for Summers commented that he “profoundly regrets being in contact with Epstein after his legal finding”.

Democratic lawmakers released emails from the Epstein estate this week that suggest Epstein was of the opinion Trump was knew about conduct by the now-convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell. In retaliation, GOP lawmakers released a larger batch of 20,000 emails from the Epstein estate.

These records show that Summers continued friendly contact with the adjudicated child sex trafficker well into 2019, with the last email exchange occurring only months before Epstein’s detention.

Trump stated on Truth Social on Friday that he would be instructing the Department of Justice and the FBI to investigate Epstein’s “involvement and relationship” with Summers, among other prominent liberal leaders and corporate executives.

In the emails, Summers and Epstein talk about politics – particularly Summers’s disdain for Trump – as well as the details of philanthropic social networking – and women. Summers, 70, shared with Epstein in a 2019 exchange about his romantic gestures toward an anonymous woman, and being turned down.

“shes smart. making you pay for past errors,” Epstein replied in an exchange on 16 March. “disregard the 'daddy' comment, I'm going out with the motorcycle guy, you handled it well.. irritation indicates concern., no complaining demonstrated strength.”

Summers reiterated his regret in a recent statement. “I harbor significant regrets in my lifetime,” he wrote. “As previously stated, my connection to Jeffrey Epstein represented a serious lapse in judgment.”

Summers was president of Harvard University from 2001 to 2006. Epstein contributed more than $9m to Harvard and its associated programs between 1998 and 2008, and was designated a visiting fellow to carry out research. The university later determined Epstein “did not have the scholarly credentials visiting fellows usually possess and his application proposed a course of study Epstein was not prepared to pursue”.

Harvard only discontinued accepting Epstein’s donations after he confessed to child sex offenses in 2008.

By that time Obama’s star was rising. Summers would later receive appointment as director of the White House National Economic Council from January 2009 until November 2010.

After Summers exited the White House, he began requesting Epstein for charitable advice for his wife, Elisa New, a Harvard professor pursuing a poetry project. Epstein and his foundations made philanthropic donations to projects associated with Summers’s wife, and the two men got together a dozen times between 2013 and 2016, often for dinner.

After news about Epstein’s donations emerged, New’s charity made a donation “in excess” of that received to anti-sex-trafficking organizations.