The Larry Summers Question

The Larry Summers Question: Harvard’s Epstein Problem Goes to the Top

A Deep Investigation into Elite Academic Complicity

How America’s most prominent economist maintained a seven-year relationship with a convicted sex offender—and what it reveals about institutional rot

Executive Summary

Lawrence “Larry” Summers—former U.S. Treasury Secretary, Harvard University President, and economic advisor to Presidents Clinton and Obama—maintained an intimate, multifaceted relationship with convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein from approximately 1998 until just months before Epstein’s death in 2019.

The newly released cache of emails spanning from 2013 to 2019 reveals how Summers sought out Epstein’s thoughts on Harvard projects, politics, and his personal life, painting the most detailed picture yet of how America’s elite institutions became entangled with—and compromised by—a serial predator.

This isn’t merely about one man’s poor judgment. It’s about systemic complicity, institutional corruption, and the mechanisms through which money, power, and privilege create zones of impunity for the wealthy and connected.

---

PART I: THE FINANCIAL FOUNDATION

The $9 Million Question

Primary Sources:

• Harvard Crimson – Email Cache Reveals Summers-Epstein Relationship
• NBC News – Harvard Professors Meeting Epstein
• The Nation – How Epstein Captivated Harvard
• Wikipedia – Larry Summers Biography

Epstein donated $9.1 million to Harvard from 1997 to 2007 — until the University halted donations from Epstein following his 2008 conviction. But the timeline reveals something more disturbing: the donations coincided precisely with Summers’s rise to power at Harvard.

The Timeline of Influence:

1998: Summers, then serving as US Deputy Treasury Secretary, flew on Epstein’s Boeing 727 from Aspen, Colorado, to Dulles Airport on September 19. This is the first documented connection between the two men.

1999-2001: Summers serves as U.S. Treasury Secretary under President Clinton.

July 2001: Summers becomes President of Harvard University.

2003: Epstein donated $30 million to create a mathematical biology and evolutionary dynamics program at Harvard (though other sources indicate the actual donation was $6.5 million to establish the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics).

The Critical Question: Did Epstein’s financial relationship with Harvard begin before or after his friendship with Summers? The evidence suggests Summers was the gateway.

---

The Program for Evolutionary Dynamics: A Vanity Project

In 2003, Epstein contributed $6.5 million to the program, enabling it to rent the top floor of a sleek new office building at One Brattle Square, near Harvard Square. But this wasn’t just any academic program—it bore the unmistakable marks of Epstein’s ego and influence:

What Epstein Received:

• An office (Office 610, known as “Jeffrey’s Office”) at 1 Brattle Square
• A dedicated phone line and key card access
• Despite having no formal academic affiliation with Harvard

The Intellectual Cover: In a 2003 Vanity Fair article, Epstein said he was reluctant to have his name attached to the program, but Harvard President Larry Summers “persuaded” him.

This is gaslighting at an institutional level. A convicted sex offender (his first arrest was in 2005, but allegations date earlier) doesn’t need to be “persuaded” to have his name on a Harvard program—he demands it. And Harvard, under Summers’s leadership, gave it to him.

---

The “Lolita Express” Treasury Secretary

Flight records introduced as evidence in the 2021 trial of Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell show that Summers flew on Jeffrey Epstein’s private plane on at least four occasions, including once in 1998 when Summers was United States Deputy Secretary of the Treasury and at least three times while Harvard president.

Critical Questions:

1. Who else was on those flights? Flight manifests exist. They should be subpoenaed and made public.
2. Where did these flights go? Did any travel to Little St. James (Epstein’s island) or other properties where trafficking occurred?
3. What was discussed during these flights? Treasury policy? Harvard donations? Personal matters?
4. Did Summers file proper disclosure forms? Federal officials must report gifts and travel. Did Summers disclose these flights while serving as Deputy Treasury Secretary?

---

PART II: THE RELATIONSHIP AFTER CONVICTION

Harvard’s Hollow Ban

On July 1, 2007, Drew Faust took over as Harvard’s president. Reviewing Epstein’s case, she barred the university from receiving any more funds from him. But Harvard said it would not return any of the money he had already given. And, remarkably, Epstein was permitted to resume his activities at the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics.

This is institutional money laundering dressed up as ethics. Harvard kept the $9 million, claimed moral high ground, and then allowed Epstein to continue using Harvard’s facilities and prestige.

---

Summers’s Secret Meetings (2013-2019)

Despite Harvard’s supposed “ban” on Epstein, Summers continued to meet with Epstein more than a dozen times between 2013 and 2016, including dinners and meetings in Cambridge, Boston, and at Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse.

The hundreds of emails — spanning from 2013 to 2019 — reveal how Summers sought out Epstein’s thoughts on Harvard projects, politics, and his personal life. They appear to have maintained a close correspondence as late as March 2019 — just months before Epstein’s arrest and death.

What Were They Discussing?

According to the released emails, topics included:

• Trump and politics
• Harvard fundraising projects
• Summers’s personal romantic life (the “dear Abby issue”)
• Sexual harassment controversies in academia
• Arranging meetings with international figures

---

The “Dear Abby” Emails: Summers’s Personal Confessions

In dozens of emails, Summers — corresponding from his personal account — appears to have written to Epstein with ease about his personal life. At times, he confided in Epstein about his relationship with an unnamed woman, referring to the topic and his requests for advice as the “dear Abby issue”.

This is astonishing. A former Treasury Secretary and Harvard President was seeking romantic advice from a convicted sex offender and known trafficker of young women.

He recounted a conversation between himself and the woman to Epstein, telling him that at one point it had turned tense. At one point, he told Epstein, the woman brushed him off with the phrase “I’m busy.” Summers told Epstein that he responded to the woman by telling her “awfully coy you u are.” Summers then asked her, “Did u really rearrange the weekend we were going to be together because guy number 3 was coming”.

The Disturbing Subtext: Why would Summers, a brilliant economist and experienced administrator, confide such personal matters to Epstein? The answer suggests either:

1. A level of personal intimacy that indicates much more frequent contact than documented
2. Epstein served as a confidant for matters Summers couldn’t discuss with colleagues
3. Summers viewed Epstein as someone who “understood” complicated relationships with women

Given Epstein’s criminal history, option 3 is particularly chilling.

---

PART III: THE WIFE’S PROJECT

The $1 Million Ask

According to documents reviewed by the Journal, Summers wrote an email to Epstein in April 2014 asking for “small scale philanthropy advice” for his wife, Harvard professor Elisa New, who was in the process of establishing Verse Video Education, an online poetry project.

This occurred six years after Epstein’s 2008 conviction for soliciting minors for prostitution.

The Wall Street Journal reported in 2023 that Summers had sought a $1 million donation from Epstein for an online poetry project his wife was developing and invited Epstein to dinner.

What Happened: A charity funded by Epstein also donated to the production of a PBS show hosted by Summers’s wife and Harvard professor Elisa New. In 2014, Summers emailed Epstein requesting “small scale philanthropy advice” for his wife’s nonprofit, Verse Video Education.

According to reports, Epstein donated $110,000 to the nonprofit through his foundation, Gratitude America.

---

The Harvard Project Facilitation

In one 2014 thread, New and Epstein discussed the potential $500,000 contribution to New’s project. According to an email from New, Epstein and Summers had previously talked about the idea. She then asked Epstein for feedback and edits on her draft budget. “It will absolutely be a Harvard gift,” she told him, adding that the donation “will count as Campaign success”.

This reveals three critical facts:

1. Elisa New was directly communicating with Epstein about fundraising
2. Summers had previously discussed the donation with Epstein, setting up his wife’s ask
3. The donation was being structured to count toward Harvard’s capital campaign, meaning Harvard leadership likely knew about continued Epstein involvement

---

The St. Thomas Rescue Mission

One of the most disturbing revelations involves Summers’s longtime aide and spokesperson, Kelly Friendly.

In January 2014, Friendly emailed Epstein from St. Thomas — an island near Little St. James, which served as a home base for the financier’s sex trafficking operations — telling him that she and her family were stranded. “We would be so grateful for any help you could provide,” she wrote, in a sequence of messages that list the names of her husband and two children.

The next day, Friendly asked Epstein whether she and her 11-year-old daughter could fly out of the island with Farkas, a real estate mogul who has donated millions of dollars to Harvard over the years. Epstein replied within hours, instructing an assistant to “please organzie kelly to have use of the mini van. today”.

The Questions This Raises:

1. Why was Friendly, Summers’s closest aide, vacationing near Epstein’s trafficking headquarters?
2. Did she know what happened on Little St. James?
3. Was this vacation arranged through Epstein?
4. Did Summers know his aide was accepting help from Epstein?
5. Who is “Farkas” and what is his connection to both Epstein and Harvard?

---

PART IV: THE TRUMP EMAILS

“None as Bad as Trump”

On February 8, 2017, just days after Trump’s inauguration, Summers wrote to Epstein:

“Recall ive told you,, — i have met some very bad people ,, none as bad as trump. not one decent cell in his body.. so yes- dangerous.”

Sources: Washington Post | NBC News

This assessment is particularly striking because it came from Epstein—someone who knew Trump personally and socially for decades. But more importantly: Why was Summers sharing this assessment with Epstein?

---

“Do the Russians Have Stuff on Trump?”

On July 15, 2018, one year before Epstein’s arrest, Epstein wrote to Summers: “new york soon?” The following day, Epstein wrote, “wed presidnt [sic] of united nations, interesting person for you.” Shortly after midnight, Summers responded, “Do the Russians have stuff on Trump? Today was appalling even by his standards.” “My email is full with similar comments,” Epstein wrote back. “wow”.

This exchange reveals:

1. Summers was treating Epstein as a political intelligence source about Trump and Russia
2. Epstein claimed his “email was full” of similar comments, suggesting a network of powerful correspondents discussing Trump
3. Summers’s midnight email timing suggests urgency and emotional reaction to Trump news

---

“His World Will Collapse”

In one email, sent in October 2017, Summers told Epstein that Trump was the “world s luckiest guy in terms of opposition, economy etc. still think his world will collapse”.

---

The “Hit On A Few Women” Defense

Perhaps most revealing is this exchange from October 2017:

“I’m trying to figure why American elite think if u murder your baby by beating and abandonment it must be irrelevant to your admission to Harvard,” wrote Summers. “But hit on a few women 10 years ago and can’t work at a network or think tank. DO NOT REPEAT THIS INSIGHT”.

Context: This was written during the height of the #MeToo movement, when powerful men across industries were being held accountable for sexual harassment and assault.

Analysis:

• Summers is complaining to a convicted sex offender about the consequences powerful men face for sexual misconduct
• The phrase “hit on a few women” minimizes sexual harassment and assault
• The reference to the Michelle Jones case (a woman convicted of murdering her child who was denied admission to Harvard) suggests Summers believes sexual misconduct should be treated more leniently than murder
• “DO NOT REPEAT THIS INSIGHT” indicates Summers knew these views were indefensible if made public

The Deeper Question: Was Summers seeking Epstein’s sympathy because he himself felt threatened by #MeToo accountability?

---

Refusing Trump’s Favor

In a message sent in November 2016, eight years after Epstein had pleaded guilty to state charges in Florida for soliciting minors for prostitution, Epstein discussed arranging a meeting between Summers and the son of a Senegalese leader. In the same message chain, Summers, asks Epstein not to make arrangements for him to meet with Trump, who had been elected president for the first time a few weeks earlier. “Spend zero effort on anything about me with trump,” Summers wrote. “Seeing his approach to conflict of interest, his Putin proximity, and his mindless response on Castro death I’m best off a million miles away”.

What This Reveals:

• Epstein had enough influence to arrange meetings between Summers and international leaders (Senegal)
• Epstein had enough influence to potentially arrange meetings with President-elect Trump
• Summers was comfortable declining Trump connections through Epstein but not comfortable cutting ties with Epstein himself

---

Trump is “Borderline Insane”

In one of the thousands of documents released by the House Oversight Committee, convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein called President Donald Trump “borderline insane” in a 2018 email exchange with former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers. “Trump – borderline insane,” Epstein wrote on December 22, 2018.

---

PART V: THE QUESTIONS THAT DEMAND ANSWERS

What Did Summers Know About Epstein’s Crimes?

Timeline of public knowledge:

• 2005: First allegations against Epstein surface
• 2006: Palm Beach Police investigation begins
• 2007: Federal investigation launched
• 2008: Epstein pleads guilty, registers as sex offender
• 2011: Virginia Giuffre files lawsuit detailing trafficking
• 2013-2019: Summers continues meeting with Epstein

Epstein visited campus several times even after his conviction. Summers’s connection to Epstein has been long documented, but the newly released messages offer the most detailed account yet of the depth of their relationship. Epstein donated millions of dollars to Harvard during Summers’s presidency from 2001 to 2006. The two continued to meet regularly after Epstein’s 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor, despite the University’s public claims that it had severed ties.

The Inescapable Conclusion: By 2008, at the latest, Summers knew Epstein was a convicted sex offender who had solicited minors. Yet he continued meeting with him for another 11 years.

---

What Role Did Summers Play in Harvard’s Epstein Connections?

According to workers at Mr. Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion, he received visits from ‘friends from Harvard’ and other ‘very important people’.

Indeed, Epstein shares a special connection with one of the most prominent figures at Harvard—University President Lawrence H. Summers. Summers and Epstein serve together on the Trilateral Commission and the Council on Foreign Relations, two elite international relations organizations. Their friendship began a number of years ago—before Summers became Harvard’s president and even before he was the Secretary of the Treasury—and those close to Epstein say he holds the University president in very high regard. “He likes Larry Summers a lot,” Epstein’s friend and Frankfurter Professor of Law Alan M. Dershowitz said.

Harvard Professors Connected to Epstein Through Summers:

• Martin Nowak (Program for Evolutionary Dynamics director)
• Stephen Kosslyn (designated Epstein as “visiting fellow” in Psychology Department in 2005)
• Alan Dershowitz (became Epstein’s lawyer)
• Henry Rosovsky (former FAS Dean)
• Steven Pinker
• Stephen Jay Gould

---

Did Summers Help Whitewash Epstein’s Reputation?

“I am amazed by the connections he has in the scientific world,” says Martin A. Nowak, who will leave Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study to run the mathematical biology and evolutionary dynamics program at Harvard endowed by Epstein’s $30 million gift. “He knows an amazing number of scientists; he knows everyone you can imagine”.

This wasn’t accidental. Epstein cultivated Harvard connections to appear legitimate. And Summers, as Harvard’s president, was the key to that legitimacy.

---

Why Did Summers Continue Meeting Epstein After 2008?

The released emails show meetings continuing through March 2019—just four months before Epstein’s arrest. What possible legitimate reason could exist for a former Treasury Secretary and Harvard President to maintain such close contact with a registered sex offender?

Possible explanations:

1. Kompromat: Epstein had compromising information on Summers
2. Financial ties: Undisclosed business relationships or investments
3. Intellectual hubris: Summers believed he was “above” moral considerations
4. Institutional protection: Summers was protecting Harvard’s interests
5. Personal friendship: Summers genuinely didn’t care about Epstein’s crimes

None of these explanations are acceptable. All of them demand investigation.

---

PART VI: THE INSTITUTIONAL ROT

Harvard’s Epstein Report: A Cover-Up

The report found that Epstein donated $9.1 million to Harvard from 1997 to 2007 — until the University halted donations from Epstein following his 2008 conviction — and visited campus several times even after his conviction. But the report makes minimal mentions of Summers’ relationship with Epstein. In fact, Summers only appears in the report one time in a description of the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, which was “established in 2003 by Harvard University President Lawrence H. Summers following an imaginative proposal by Jeffrey Epstein and Benedict Gross”.

This is institutional gaslighting. Harvard produced an “investigation” that barely mentioned the relationship between its president and Epstein, despite overwhelming evidence of close ties.

---

The Missing Questions Harvard Won’t Answer

1. How many times did Summers meet with Epstein on Harvard property?
2. Were Harvard resources used to facilitate Epstein’s activities?
3. Did Harvard donors know about the Epstein relationship?
4. Were students or staff endangered by Epstein’s campus access?
5. What due diligence did Harvard conduct before accepting $9 million from Epstein?
6. Why wasn’t Summers investigated during Harvard’s internal review?
7. Did the Harvard Corporation (governing board) know about and approve the Epstein relationship?

---

The Elite Accountability Gap

As these suits and settlements show, Epstein’s crimes continued undiminished after his initial arrest and throughout the many years he was meeting with Bill Gates, Leon Black, Woody Allen, Leon Botstein, Noam Chomsky, Ehud Barak, Alan Dershowitz, the Dubins, and Larry Summers. How could figures of such stature, wealth, and worldliness not have known? The answer seems clear: They didn’t want to know.

---

PART VII: SUMMERS’S RESPONSE (OR LACK THEREOF)

The Non-Apology Apology

Summers — who is currently a University Professor, Harvard’s highest faculty distinction — wrote that his relationship with Epstein reflected a lapse in judgment in a Wednesday statement to The Crimson. “I have great regrets in my life,” he wrote. “As I have said before, my association with Jeffrey Epstein was a major error of judgement”.

A spokesperson for Summers declined to comment on the newly released emails. “Summers has made clear previously he deeply regrets his association with Epstein,” the spokesperson said.

What’s Missing From This Response:

1. No acknowledgment of the seven-year post-conviction relationship
2. No explanation for why he continued meeting Epstein
3. No apology to Epstein’s victims
4. No accountability for using his position to facilitate Epstein’s legitimacy
5. No resignation from Harvard positions
6. No return of any compensation received during the period of Epstein donations

---

PART VIII: THE BROADER NETWORK

Other Prominent Figures in the Emails

They included Kathryn Ruemmler, former White House Counsel to President Barack Obama; Larry Summers, economist and former Harvard president; Michael Wolff, columnist and journalist; Peggy Siegal, entertainment publicist; and Ghislaine Maxwell, close associate and fellow sex offender.

Kathryn Ruemmler (now Goldman Sachs Chief Legal Officer): “Trump is so gross,” she wrote to him in February that year. “worse in real life and upclose,” replied Epstein. Ruemmler and Epstein also appeared to discuss the Aug. 21, 2018, guilty plea of President Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen.

Steve Bannon: Bannon, who was a White House adviser during Trump’s first administration until he was fired in August 2017, was in email contact with Epstein in 2019. In a June 2019 message, he wrote to Epstein: “Can’t believe nobody is making u the connective tissue.” The email appeared to come in response to Epstein writing a message stating: “recall prince andrews accuser came out of mara lago”.

---

PART IX: WHAT MUST HAPPEN NOW

Congressional Action Required

1. Subpoena Summers for sworn testimony before the House Oversight Committee
2. Investigate Harvard’s role in facilitating Epstein’s activities
3. Examine Treasury Department records from Summers’s tenure for any Epstein connections
4. Review National Economic Council activities during Summers’s Obama-era service
5. Investigate OpenAI’s board (Summers joined in November 2023) for conflict of interest concerns

---

Harvard Must Act

1. Remove Summers from University Professor position (Harvard’s highest faculty distinction)
2. Conduct independent investigation (not another internal whitewash)
3. Release all emails and meeting records between Summers and Epstein
4. Establish victim compensation fund using Epstein donations
5. Implement mandatory disclosure requirements for faculty relationships with convicted criminals

---

Institutional Accountability

1. SEC investigation into potential securities violations related to Summers’s business activities
2. DOJ review of whether Summers helped facilitate Epstein’s operations
3. IRS audit of Epstein-related charitable donations
4. State bar investigations for any lawyers who facilitated the Summers-Epstein relationship

---

CONCLUSION: THE LARRY SUMMERS QUESTION

The Summers-Epstein relationship isn’t an aberration—it’s a case study in how American elites protect each other, how institutions prioritize money over morality, and how power creates zones of impunity.

The questions are simple:

1. Why did a former Treasury Secretary and Harvard President maintain a seven-year relationship with a convicted sex offender?
2. What did Summers know about Epstein’s ongoing crimes?
3. Did Summers facilitate Epstein’s access to other elites?
4. What leverage did Epstein have over Summers?
5. Why has Summers faced no meaningful consequences?

The answers are harder because they require confronting uncomfortable truths about American power structures.

To this day, the university has made no apology nor offered any compensation to Epstein’s scores—perhaps hundreds—of victims. With so little accountability, what’s to prevent such a scandal from happening again?

The Larry Summers question isn’t just about one economist’s poor judgment. It’s about whether elite institutions are capable of self-governance, whether money can buy moral legitimacy, and whether anyone at the top is ever truly held accountable.

The emails suggest the answer to all three questions is: No.

---

Primary Sources & Further Reading

Official Documents:

• House Oversight Committee – Epstein Estate Documents (Nov 13, 2025)
• Harvard Crimson – Email Cache Analysis
• Harvard Crimson – Summers Met Repeatedly with Epstein

Major Investigative Reporting:

• The Nation – How Jeffrey Epstein Captivated Harvard
• Wall Street Journal – Summers Sought Epstein Donations (2023)
• NBC News – Harvard Professors Kept Meeting Epstein

Email Analysis:

• Bloomberg – Summers Criticized Trump in Epstein Emails
• Boston Globe – Republicans Released Thousands of Epstein Files
• CNN – What’s Inside the Epstein Documents

Background & Context:

• Wikipedia – Lawrence Summers
• Medium – Summers-Epstein Office Connection
• GBH – After Taking Epstein’s Money, MIT and Harvard Reconsider Donations

---

This investigation is ongoing. Additional revelations continue to emerge from the 20,000+ page document release.

Tips and leads: [encrypted contact information]

Support this investigation: [crowdfunding/foundation information]