Ex-US treasury chief steps back from public duties after Epstein emails release

Former Harvard University president Larry Summers has stepped back from public duties (Michael Dwyer/AP)

Larry Summers, the former president of Harvard University who once served as US treasury secretary, has said he will step back from public commitments after the release of emails showing he maintained a friendly relationship with Jeffrey Epstein long after the financier pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from an underage girl in 2008.

A statement sent to student newspaper The Harvard Crimson and other media on Monday said Mr Summers would step back to “rebuild trust and repair relationships with the people closest to me”.

“I am deeply ashamed of my actions and recognise the pain they have caused. I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr Epstein,” the statement said.

Mr Summers said he would continue to teach. His website says he teaches several economics courses at Harvard.

Jeffrey Epstein killed himself in jail (New York State Sex Offender Registry via AP)

Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial in 2019 on charges he sexually abused and trafficked underage girls.

Emails made public last week showed many in Epstein’s vast network of wealthy and influential friends stayed in touch long after his 2008 guilty plea.

A 2019 email to Epstein showed Mr Summers discussing interactions he had with a woman, writing that “I said what are you up to. She said ‘I’m busy’. I said awfully coy u are.”

Epstein, who often wrote with spelling and grammatical errors, replied, “you reacted well.. annoyed shows caring. , no whining showed strentgh”.

When asked about the emails last week, Mr Summers issued a statement saying he has “great regrets in my life” and that his association with Epstein was a “major error in judgment”.

Mr Summers served as treasury secretary from 1999 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He was Harvard’s president for five years from 2001 to 2006. He is currently a professor and is a director of the school’s Mossavar-Rahmani Centre for Business and Government.