Former US Treasury secretary Larry Summers said on Monday he will step back from all public commitments, days after President Donald Trump ordered the Justice Department to investigate his and other prominent Democrats’ ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Summers, a former president of Harvard University, where he is a professor, told the university’s student newspaper that the move was to allow him “to rebuild trust and repair relationships with the people closest to me”.
The announcement came after the House Oversight Committee released thousands of files related to Epstein last week, including documents that showed personal correspondence between Summers and Epstein, long after Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from an underage girl in 2008.
“I am deeply ashamed of my actions and recognise the pain they have caused. I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr Epstein,” Summers told The Crimson.
“While continuing to fulfil my teaching obligations, I will be stepping back from public commitments as one part of my broader effort,” Summers added.
A 2019 email to Epstein showed Summers discussing interactions he had with a woman, writing that “I said what are you up to. She said ‘I’m busy’. I said awfully coy u are”.
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