'Deeply ashamed': Larry Summers will step back from public roles as relationship with Epstein revealed

"Larry Summers, the former president of Harvard University, said he will be "stepping back" from public commitments as some of his regular email exchanges with Jeffrey Epstein became public. "I am deeply ashamed of my actions and recognize the pain they have caused," Summers said in a statement Monday, according to The Boston Globe. "I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr. Epstein.""

"Summers will continue fulfilling his teaching obligations, he said, while "stepping back from public commitments as one part of my broader effort to rebuild trust and repair relationships with the people closest to me." He previously served as the Secretary of the Treasury in the Clinton administration and director of the National Economic Council under former President Barack Obama. His statement came after Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a former Harvard Law School professor, called on Harvard to distance itself from its former president and prominent economics professor. "If he had so little ability to distance himself from Jeffrey Epstein even after all that was publicly known about Epstein's sex offenses involving underage girls," Warren told CNN, "then Summers cannot be trusted to advise our nation's politicians, policymakers, and institutions - or teach a generation of students at Harvard or anywhere else.""

"Summers and Epstein regularly emailed between 2017 and 2019, sometimes sending multiple emails per day, discussing President Donald Trump and a woman, according to the documents released by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Epstein had already pleaded guilty to solicitation of prostitution and of solicitation of prostitution with a minor under the age of 18 in 2008."

Larry Summers regularly emailed with Jeffrey Epstein between 2017 and 2019, sometimes multiple times per day, according to documents released by the House Oversight Committee. Summers said he will step back from public commitments, expressed deep shame, and took responsibility for continuing communications with Epstein while remaining committed to teaching. Summers previously served as U.S. Treasury Secretary and director of the National Economic Council. Senator Elizabeth Warren urged Harvard to distance itself from Summers, arguing his failure to separate from Epstein undermines trust. The records note those emails discussed President Donald Trump and a woman. Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to solicitation of prostitution, including with a minor.

Read at Boston.com