Uncovered Exchanges Show Epstein and Larry Summers as Trusted Friends

Numerous exchanges between adjudicated offender Jeffrey Epstein and ex- US treasury head Larry Summers came to light this week, showing the pair acted as close contacts.

These exchanges, covering 2013 to early 2019, demonstrate the two men sharing private – and at times unseemly – views on politics and interpersonal dynamics.

I am attempting to figure why [the] American elite believe if u kill your baby by physical abuse and neglect it must be not a factor 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 take the life of your baby by physical abuse and desertion it must be irrelevant to your admission to Harvard,”} Summers emailed to Epstein in a 2017 email. Yet made advances toward 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 one-time president of the university who lost his position amid a scandal after making discriminatory comments about female academics, continued in the correspondence to Epstein: I pointed out that half of the IQ in [the] world was owned by women without mentioning they are more than 51 percent of the populace.”

Summers was previously a key player in liberal circles – a ex- treasury secretary in the Clinton administration, one of the primary designers of Barack Obama’s approach to the market collapse, and a committed voice in the liberal commentariat. But concerns have persisted about his relationship with Epstein, a longtime contact of Donald Trump. Epstein was alleged to have run a wide-ranging child sex trafficking operation before his demise in custody in 2019 in New York City.

Following publication of a previous batch of emails between Epstein and Summers in a 2023 report, a spokesperson for Summers said that he “is very sorry for being in contact with Epstein after his conviction”.

Left-leaning lawmakers released emails from the Epstein estate this week that indicate Epstein thought Trump was aware of conduct by the now-convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell. In response, Conservative lawmakers issued a larger collection of 20,000 emails from the Epstein estate.

The released materials show that Summers maintained congenial contact with the adjudicated child sex trafficker well into 2019, with the last email exchange happening only months before Epstein’s detention.

Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday that he would be asking the Department of Justice and the FBI to examine Epstein’s “role and association” with Summers, among other prominent liberal leaders and industry figures.

In the emails, Summers and Epstein discuss politics – notably Summers’s dislike for Trump – as well as the details of non-profit social networking – and women. Summers, 70, shared with Epstein in a 2019 exchange about his advances toward an anonymous woman, and being turned down.

“she is clever. ensuring you atone for previous missteps,” 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 affirmed his regret in a recent statement. “I harbor significant regrets in my lifetime,” he said. “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 designated a visiting fellow to conduct research. The university later determined Epstein “did not have the educational background visiting fellows normally possess and his application suggested a course of study Epstein was ill-equipped to pursue”.

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

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

After Summers left the White House, he began soliciting Epstein for non-profit advice for his wife, Elisa New, a Harvard professor working on 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 news about Epstein’s donations surfaced, New’s charity made a donation “in excess” of that received to anti-sex-trafficking organizations.