'I am deeply ashamed': Larry Summers steps back from public engagements after his emails with Epstein were leaked

Larry Summers, former U.S. Treasury secretary and former president of Harvard, announced Monday that he will step aside from all public engagements after the disclosure of a series of emails that reveal a more intimate relationship than previously known with the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

In a message sent to Politico, Summers, who served as Treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton and as a senior adviser to President Barack Obama, admitted that he maintained improper communications with the controversial mogul for years. “I am deeply ashamed of my actions and recognize the pain they have caused,” he said. “I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr. Epstein. While continuing to fulfill my teaching obligations, I will be stepping back from public commitments as one part of my broader effort to rebuild trust and repair relationships with the people closest to me.”

The emails released to the public show that Summers persistently sought Epstein's advice on romantically courting a woman he described as his apprentice. In one conversation, Epstein went so far as to refer to himself as the economist's "wingman."

Likewise, in another moment that generated outrage, Summers suggested that, on balance, women tend to have lower IQs than men.

Part of the messages between Summer and Epstein stretched into 2019, long after the financier pleaded guilty in 2008 to prostitution-related charges and barely a year after the Miami Herald story that revealed Epstein's abuse of minors. 

The Epstein e-mail scandal has already generated political backlash and a wave of criticism against Summers, including in the Democratic Party.

For example, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren urged various institutions to cut ties with Summers.

According to Politico, the controversy leaves several of the positions she currently holds uncertain: a seat on the board of OpenAI, her tenured faculty position at Harvard, a role as an outside contributor at the Center for American Progress (CAP), and a contract as a paid contributor at Bloomberg News.

Asked by the press, for now, spokesmen for these organizations and for Summers himself avoided making a public statement except for CAP, which explained before the statement that they would review "last week’s disclosures to determine appropriate next steps."