Former U.S. treasury secretary Larry Summers announced his decision on Monday to withdraw from all public commitments. This move comes shortly after President Donald Trump directed the Justice Department to investigate the connections of Summers and other prominent Democrats to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Summers, who serves as a Harvard professor and previously as its president, conveyed to the university’s student publication that he aims to rebuild trust and mend relationships with those closest to him.
The development follows the recent disclosure of numerous files related to Epstein by the U.S. House Oversight Committee. Among these files were documents revealing personal communications between Summers and Epstein. Addressing the issue, Summers expressed deep regret for his actions and acknowledged the harm they have caused. He took full responsibility for his decision to maintain contact with Epstein, stating his intention to step back from public commitments while continuing to fulfill his teaching duties as part of a broader effort to address the situation.
Summers, a member of the Democratic Party, previously served as treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton and led the National Economic Council during President Barack Obama’s tenure. He currently holds positions on the boards of OpenAI and the Harvard Kennedy School’s Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government. OpenAI and Harvard did not provide immediate responses to requests for comments, and Summers himself did not respond promptly.
The Epstein scandal has posed challenges for Trump, with the president having faced criticism for promoting conspiracy theories related to Epstein among his supporters. Allegations have circulated among many of Trump’s voters, suggesting that U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and other administration officials have concealed Epstein’s associations with influential individuals and obscured details surrounding his suicide in a Manhattan jail in 2019.
The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on Tuesday regarding the release of investigative files on Epstein, following Trump’s reversal in support of the release and his call for fellow Republicans to back the initiative.