US economist and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers retired due to his past ties to a convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein return. “I am deeply ashamed of my actions and aware of the suffering they have caused,” Summers wrote in a statement made available to several US media outlets. Recently published emails and text messages reveal close personal exchanges with the now deceased Epstein. Harvard Newspapers Dark red reported the exchange, which ended shortly before Epstein’s arrest in 2019, and in which Summers also made derogatory comments about women.
Summers wrote that he took “full responsibility” for his “ill-advised decision to remain associated with Mr. Epstein.” The economist was a former Minister of Finance during the administration of US President Bill Clinton and later became an advisor to President Barack Obama.
After briefly serving as president of Harvard, he began teaching at the elite university. Most recently, in addition to being a professor at Harvard, he also served as a board member of OpenAI’s ChatGPT operator and as a columnist for
Bloomberg News. He now writes that he only wishes to continue fulfilling his teaching obligations at Harvard, but will withdraw from public duties in order to regain trust and improve relations with those around him.
Influential multimillionaire Epstein had run an abuse ring for years in which he forced scores of young women and minors to have sex. He himself also abused his victims. After previously being found guilty, the case was then reopened and Epstein was arrested again. Epstein was found dead in a New York prison cell in 2019 while awaiting his next trial.
The US Congress recently published several files regarding this case. Publication of all the files has recently become contentious in the Republican Party. The US president, who has been accused of having closer contact with Epstein, has long refused to make it public. Now Donald Trump has spoken out in support of the release.
