Revealed Emails Show Epstein and Summers as Confidantes

Numerous communications between convicted offender Jeffrey Epstein and ex- US treasury head Larry Summers came to light this week, showing the pair were confidants.

Their correspondence, covering 2013 to early 2019, demonstrate the two men exchanging personal – and at times questionable – opinions on political matters and interpersonal dynamics.

I am attempting to figure why [the] American elite believe if u kill your baby by beating 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 think if u kill your baby by beating and desertion it must be not a factor to your acceptance to Harvard,”} Summers stated to Epstein in a 2017 email. “But made advances toward a few women 10 years ago and cannot work at a network or think tank. KEEP CONFIDENTIAL THIS IDEA.”

At that time, Harvard University was dealing with an enrollment discussion after a once incarcerated woman’s acceptance to a PhD program. Summers, a former president of the university who stepped down amid a scandal after making discriminatory comments about women in academia, added in the email to Epstein: I pointed out that half of the IQ in [the] world was held by women without noting they are more than 51 percent of population.”

Summers was once a leading light in the Democratic Party circles – a former treasury secretary in the Clinton administration, one of the key engineers of Barack Obama’s response to the market collapse, and a committed voice in the left-leaning punditry. But questions have lingered about his connection with Epstein, a former contact of Donald Trump. Epstein was charged with a extensive exploitation operation before his passing in prison in 2019 in New York City.

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

Democratic lawmakers made public emails from the Epstein estate this week that indicate Epstein believed Trump was had knowledge of conduct by the now-convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell. In reply, Republican lawmakers published a more extensive collection of 20,000 emails from the Epstein estate.

These records show that Summers maintained friendly contact with the adjudicated child sex trafficker well into 2019, with the last email exchange taking place only months before Epstein’s detention.

Trump posted on Truth Social on Friday that he would be instructing the Department of Justice and the FBI to look into Epstein’s “role and association” with Summers, among other well-known Democratic figures and business leaders.

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

“she's intelligent. holding you accountable for past mistakes,” Epstein wrote 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 regret in a recent statement. “I have great regrets in my life,” he commented. “I’ve expressed this previously: my relationship with Jeffrey Epstein was a grave mistake.”

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 appointed a visiting fellow to perform research. The university later concluded Epstein “did not have the scholarly credentials visiting fellows typically possess and his application outlined a course of study Epstein was not prepared to pursue”.

Harvard only ceased accepting Epstein’s donations after he confessed to child sex offenses in 2008.

By that time Obama’s career was advancing. Summers would ultimately secure appointment as director of the White House National Economic Council from January 2009 until November 2010.

After Summers departed the White House, he began requesting Epstein for charitable advice for his wife, Elisa New, a Harvard professor pursuing a poetry project. Epstein and his foundations made philanthropic donations to projects linked to Summers’s wife, and the two men got together a twelve times between 2013 and 2016, often for dinner.

After news about Epstein’s donations emerged, New’s charity made a donation “more than” of that received to combatting sex trafficking organizations.