Revealed Communications Illustrate Jeffrey Epstein and Summers as Close Associates

A series of communications between convicted sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein and ex- US finance chief Larry Summers came to light this week, indicating the pair acted as trusted allies.

The messages, spanning 2013 to early 2019, reveal the two men discussing personal – and at times questionable – views on politics and personal connections.

I am attempting to figure why [the] American elite feel if u murder your baby by physical abuse 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 think if u kill your baby by physical abuse and desertion it must be not a factor to your admission to Harvard,”} Summers wrote to Epstein in a 2017 communication. “But made advances toward a few women 10 years ago and cannot work at a network or think tank. DO NOT SHARE THIS OBSERVATION.”

During that period, Harvard University was grappling with an enrollment debate after a once incarcerated woman’s enrollment to a PhD program. Summers, a one-time president of the university who resigned amid a scandal after making discriminatory comments about women in academia, continued in the email to Epstein: I pointed out that half of the IQ in [the] world was possessed by women without stating they are more than 51 percent of the populace.”

Summers was previously a prominent figure in liberal circles – a former treasury secretary in the Clinton administration, one of the main architects of Barack Obama’s response to the financial crisis, and a stalwart presence in the liberal commentariat. But doubts have persisted about his relationship with Epstein, a longtime connection of Donald Trump. Epstein was alleged to have run a wide-ranging exploitation operation before his demise in jail in 2019 in New York City.

Following disclosure of a prior batch of emails between Epstein and Summers in a 2023 piece, a representative for Summers stated that he “profoundly regrets being in contact with Epstein after his conviction”.

Democratic Party lawmakers released emails from the Epstein estate this week that suggest Epstein believed Trump was had knowledge of conduct by the now-convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell. In response, GOP lawmakers released a larger collection of 20,000 emails from the Epstein estate.

The documents show that Summers kept up congenial contact with the convicted child sex trafficker well into 2019, with the last email exchange happening only months before Epstein’s apprehension.

Trump stated on Truth Social on Friday that he would be requesting the Department of Justice and the FBI to investigate Epstein’s “role and connection” with Summers, among other influential Democratic figures and corporate executives.

In the emails, Summers and Epstein talk about politics – especially Summers’s disdain for Trump – as well as the details of philanthropic social networking – and women. Summers, 70, confided in Epstein in a 2019 exchange about his romantic gestures toward an unidentified woman, and being rebuffed.

“she's intelligent. holding you accountable for past mistakes,” 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 sorrow in a recent statement. “There are many things I regret in my life,” 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 gave 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 “was missing the academic qualifications visiting fellows typically possess and his application outlined a course of study Epstein was not prepared to pursue”.

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

At that point Obama’s career was advancing. Summers would ultimately receive appointment as director of the White House NEC from January 2009 until November 2010.

After Summers left the White House, he began asking Epstein for charitable advice for his wife, Elisa New, a Harvard professor pursuing a poetry project. Epstein and his foundations made charitable contributions to projects linked to Summers’s wife, and the two men saw each other a dozen times between 2013 and 2016, often for dinner.

After reporting about Epstein’s donations came out, New’s charity made a donation “above and beyond” of that received to anti-sex-trafficking organizations.