Larry Summers Steps Back After Epstein Connection Unveiled

Boston, Nov 18 (AP) Larry Summers, the former president of Harvard University and one-time US Treasury Secretary, announced he will step back from public commitments. This decision follows the release of emails revealing he maintained a friendly relationship with Jeffrey Epstein well after Epstein's 2008 guilty plea for soliciting prostitution from an underage girl.

In a statement distributed to The Harvard Crimson and other media outlets on Monday, Summers expressed his intention to step back in order to “rebuild trust and repair relationships with the people closest to me.”

“I am deeply ashamed of my actions and recognize the pain they have caused. I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr. Epstein,” stated Summers. Despite this, he indicated he would continue teaching, as his current role involves several economics courses at Harvard.

Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide in a Manhattan jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of sexually abusing and trafficking underage girls.

Emails released last week have shown that many of Epstein's wealthy and influential acquaintances maintained contact long after his 2008 guilty plea.

An email sent to Epstein in 2019 revealed Summers speaking about an interaction with a woman, mentioning, “I said what are you up to. She said I'm busy. I said awfully coy u are.” Epstein responded with notable spelling and grammatical errors, “you reacted well... annoyed shows caring. , no whining showed strentgh.”

When questioned about the emails last week, Summers acknowledged having “great regrets in my life,” describing his association with Epstein as a “major error in judgement.”

Summers served as the Treasury Secretary from 1999 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton, and as Harvard's president from 2001 to 2006. Currently, he is a professor and director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at the university. (AP)