Harvard University has launched a new investigation into the ties of its president Larry Summers and other university employees to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a spokesman confirmed.
In a statement to The Harvard Crimson, the university said it was “conducting a review of information about people at Harvard included in the recently released Jeffrey Epstein documents.”
The announcement follows Summers' earlier decision to resign from the board of directors of OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT.
Newly released emails show Summers corresponded with Epstein up until the day the financier was arrested in 2019 for alleged sex trafficking of minors.
The BBC has contacted Summers for comment on the new Harvard review.
On Tuesday, Summers addressed the topic of his interactions with Epstein to students in a class he teaches at Harvard.
“Some of you have seen my statement of regret expressing my shame at what I did in my dealings with Mr. Epstein. And that I said I was going to step away from public activities,” Summers told his students, according to a video recorded by the student.
“I think it is very important to fulfill your responsibilities as a teacher. So, with your permission, we will go ahead and talk about the material in class.”
The public scandal began after Congress last week released more than 20,000 pages of documents from the so-called Epstein files, including numerous emails between Epstein and Summers.
Time stamps in the emails show the two were in communication right up to the day of Epstein's arrest – a decade after he pleaded guilty to forcing the prostitution of an underage girl.
A married father of six, Summers wrote to Epstein in November 2018, apparently seeking romantic advice related to his interest in the man he said considered him an “economics mentor.”
“Think about it, in the meantime, I won’t go anywhere with her except as an economics mentor,” Summers wrote in one conversation, where Epstein described himself as Summers’ “wing man.”
“Do I thank her or do I regret getting married? I think it’s the former,” he wrote in another email.
The emails also indicated that Summers and Epstein often dined together, with Epstein often attempting to connect Summers with prominent world figures.
None of Epstein's survivors have accused Summers of misconduct, and there is no publicly available evidence that he was involved in any of Epstein's crimes.
After Summers announced on Wednesday that he was leaving OpenAi, the artificial intelligence company said it respected Summers' decision to step down.
“We value his many contributions and the perspective he brings to the Board of Directors,” OpenAI said.
In a statement to the BBC about the move, Summers said he was “grateful for the opportunity to work, excited about the company's potential and looks forward to following their progress.”
After the emails were made public, Summers said he took “full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr. Epstein.”
He added that he wanted to “rebuild trust and restore relationships with the people closest to me.”
Summers served in leadership positions under two Democratic presidents; served as Secretary of the Treasury under Bill Clinton and director of the National Economic Council under Barack Obama.
He headed Harvard from 2001 to 2006 and remains a professor there. Announcing his withdrawal from public engagements earlier Monday, he said he would continue his teaching career.
Following Summers' announcement Monday, the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank in Washington where Summers was a senior fellow, confirmed that Summers was no longer affiliated with the organization.
Summers joined the board of OpenAI, which makes ChatGPT, in 2023 after a failed attempt to oust its CEO Sam Altman.
Both houses of Congress on Tuesday agreed to pass a measure requiring the US Justice Department to release files on Epstein, setting up the possible release of tens of thousands more documents.
The bill now heads to President Donald Trump for approval. He said he plans to sign the bill after changing his position on the issue following opposition from his supporters.
