Uncovered Emails Depict Epstein and Larry Summers as Close Associates

A series of exchanges between adjudicated child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and ex- US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers came to light this week, revealing the pair acted as confidants.

The messages, dating from 2013 to early 2019, show the two men discussing private – and at times questionable – views on political matters and interpersonal dynamics.

I'm struggling to figure why [the] American elite feel if u murder your baby by beating and abandonment it must be unimportant to your entry to Harvard,”|“I’m trying to|I am attempting to|I'm struggling to} determine why [the] American elite believe if u murder your baby by physical abuse and desertion it must be unimportant to your acceptance to Harvard,”} Summers stated to Epstein in a 2017 email. “But flirted with a few women 10 years ago and are unable to work at a network or think tank. DO NOT SHARE THIS INSIGHT.”

At that time, Harvard University was wrestling with an enrollment controversy after a formerly incarcerated woman’s acceptance to a PhD program. Summers, a former president of the university who lost his position amid a controversy after making gender-biased comments about women in academia, added in the email to Epstein: I pointed out that half of the IQ in [the] world was possessed by women without mentioning they are more than 51 percent of population.”

Summers was once a leading light in the Democratic Party circles – a one-time treasury secretary in the Clinton administration, one of the primary designers of Barack Obama’s handling to the financial crisis, and a steadfast voice in the left-leaning punditry. But doubts have lingered about his connection with Epstein, a former connection of Donald Trump. Epstein was charged with a broad sex trafficking of minors operation before his demise in prison in 2019 in New York City.

Following publication of a previous tranche of emails between Epstein and Summers in a 2023 article, a agent for Summers commented that he “deeply regrets being in contact with Epstein after his guilty verdict”.

Democratic lawmakers made public emails from the Epstein estate this week that indicate Epstein thought Trump was had knowledge of conduct by the now-convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell. In response, Republican lawmakers issued a more extensive batch of 20,000 emails from the Epstein estate.

The documents show that Summers continued amicable contact with the convicted child sex trafficker well into 2019, with the most recent email exchange taking place only months before Epstein’s apprehension.

Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday that he would be asking the Department of Justice and the FBI to investigate Epstein’s “role and relationship” with Summers, among other well-known liberal leaders and corporate executives.

In the emails, Summers and Epstein discuss politics – particularly Summers’s dislike for Trump – as well as the particulars of charitable social networking – and women. Summers, 70, confided in Epstein in a 2019 exchange about his overtures toward an anonymous woman, and being turned down.

“shes smart. making you pay for past errors,” Epstein replied in an exchange on 16 March. “ignore the daddy im going to go out with the motorcycle guy, you reacted well.. annoyed shows caring., no whining showed strentgh.”

Summers reiterated his remorse in a recent statement. “I harbor significant regrets in my lifetime,” he wrote. “I’ve expressed this previously: my relationship with Jeffrey Epstein was a grave mistake.”

Summers was president of Harvard University from 2001 to 2006. Epstein contributed more than $9m to Harvard and its related programs between 1998 and 2008, and was named a visiting fellow to carry out research. The university later concluded Epstein “did not have the academic qualifications visiting fellows normally possess and his application outlined a course of study Epstein was ill-equipped to pursue”.

Harvard only stopped accepting Epstein’s donations after he admitted guilt to child sex offenses in 2008.

By then Obama’s star was rising. Summers would eventually secure appointment as director of the White House NEC from January 2009 until November 2010.

After Summers departed the White House, he began asking Epstein for non-profit advice for his wife, Elisa New, a Harvard professor working on a poetry project. Epstein and his foundations made gifts to projects linked to Summers’s wife, and the two men met a twelve times between 2013 and 2016, often for dinner.

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