Disclosed Exchanges Depict Jeffrey Epstein and Summers as Close Associates

A series of messages between adjudicated child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and one-time US finance chief Larry Summers came to light this week, indicating the pair were confidants.

The messages, spanning 2013 to early 2019, demonstrate the two men exchanging intimate – and at times improper – perspectives on political matters and interpersonal dynamics.

I am attempting to determine why [the] American elite feel if u take the life of your baby by physical abuse and desertion it must be not a factor to your admission to Harvard,”|“I’m trying to|I am attempting to|I'm struggling to} determine why [the] American elite think if u take the life of your baby by violence and neglect it must be not a factor to your entry to Harvard,”} Summers stated to Epstein in a 2017 communication. However made advances toward a few women 10 years ago and are unable to work at a network or think tank. DO NOT SHARE THIS OBSERVATION.”

Back then, Harvard University was grappling with an acceptance debate after a once incarcerated woman’s acceptance to a PhD program. Summers, a former president of the university who resigned amid a controversy after making discriminatory comments about women in academia, went on to say in the email to Epstein: “I observed that half of the IQ in [the] world was possessed by women without noting they are more than 51 percent of the populace.”

Summers was previously a key player in the Democratic Party circles – a former treasury secretary in the Clinton administration, one of the primary designers of Barack Obama’s handling to the market collapse, and a stalwart presence in the progressive media. But questions have remained about his association with Epstein, a long-standing connection of Donald Trump. Epstein was charged with a wide-ranging exploitation operation before his passing in prison in 2019 in New York City.

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

Democratic Party lawmakers made public emails from the Epstein estate this week that indicate Epstein was of the opinion Trump was had knowledge of conduct by the now-convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell. In reply, GOP lawmakers released a much bigger batch of 20,000 emails from the Epstein estate.

The released materials show that Summers maintained friendly contact with the convicted child sex trafficker well into 2019, with the last email exchange taking place only months before Epstein’s arrest.

Trump stated on Truth Social on Friday that he would be instructing the Department of Justice and the FBI to look into Epstein’s “participation and association” with Summers, among other prominent liberal leaders and industry figures.

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

“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 reiterated his sorrow in a recent statement. “I harbor significant regrets in my lifetime,” he commented. “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 contributed more than $9m to Harvard and its associated programs between 1998 and 2008, and was designated a visiting fellow to perform research. The university later found Epstein “was missing the scholarly credentials visiting fellows normally possess and his application outlined a course of study Epstein was unqualified to pursue”.

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

By that time Obama’s career was advancing. Summers would later secure appointment as director of the White House economic advisory body 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 charitable contributions to projects connected to Summers’s wife, and the two men got together a dozen times between 2013 and 2016, often for dinner.

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