Former Harvard President Larry Summers said he would step back from public engagements after his emails with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein were made public.
“I am deeply ashamed of my actions and recognize the pain they have caused,” he said in a statement to CBS News, the BBC's US partner. “I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr. Epstein.”
Emails released by Congress last week show that Summers, a former US Treasury secretary, communicated with Epstein up until the day before the pedophile's 2019 arrest for sex trafficking of minors.
House members are expected to vote Tuesday on whether to release all files related to the deceased sex offender.
The move came after the US Department of Justice announced it would investigate Epstein's “involvement and relationships” with former President Bill Clinton, who was also Epstein's friend, and several other prominent Democrats.
The Justice Department's decision was made at the insistence of US President Donald Trump, who also asked to investigate Summers, LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman and banks JP Morgan and Chase.
Trump was also mentioned in letterswhich do not imply any offence.
“Epstein was a Democrat and he is a Democrat’s problem, not a Republican’s problem!” he wrote on social networks.
“They know everything about him, don't waste your time on Trump. I need to run the country!”
Clinton categorically denies knowing anything about Epstein's crimes.
Summers served as Clinton's Treasury secretary and director of the National Economic Council under former President Barack Obama. He was president of Harvard from 2001 to 2006 and is currently a professor there.
In a statement Monday night, Summers said he wanted to “rebuild trust and rebuild relationships with the people closest to me.”
“As I continue to fulfill my teaching responsibilities, I will be stepping back from public commitments as part of my broader efforts,” he said.
The Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank in Washington where Summers was a senior fellow, also announced Monday that he was no longer affiliated with the organization.
Summers is still listed as a board member of OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, which he joined in 2023 after a failed attempt to oust its CEO Sam Altman. The BBC has contacted OpenAI and Summers' representative about whether he will remain as a director of the company.
Emails released by the House Oversight Committee last week show Summers and Epstein frequently met for dinner, with Epstein frequently attempting to connect Summers with prominent world figures. At one point in July 2018, Epstein offered to meet with “President [sic] United Nations, an interesting person for you.”
In a separate email immediately after Trump's first election in 2016, Summers advised Epstein to “not waste any effort on anything relating to me and Trump.”
Because of Trump's “conflict of interest approach,” Putin's “closeness” and the “mindless reaction” to the death of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, Summers said he was “best off being a million miles away.”
A spokesman for Summers previously told US media that he “deeply regretted his contact with Epstein following his conviction” in 2008 for soliciting an underage prostitute.
Many famous people are mentioned in the emails. A Wall Street Journal review found Trump was mentioned in more than 1,600 of the 2,324 email threads.
He has repeatedly said that he cut off contact with the financier before his sentencing in 2008 and was unaware of his criminal activities. Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing against Epstein.
Although his name was discussed in some messages published last week, he did not send or receive them.
