Former US Treasury Secretary to step down from Harvard amid Epstein ties

Former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers has announced that he will step down from his professorship at Harvard University at the end of the academic year. The move comes amid continuing fallout from his ties to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Summers has faced criticism since the US House Committee on Oversight and Accountability released documents detailing his personal correspondence with Epstein. However, no evidence has emerged that he acted unlawfully.

Summers ended his teaching duties in November and took a leave of absence from his role as co-director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at Harvard Kennedy School. At the time, the university said it would review individuals named in the Epstein files.

Harvard spokesperson Jason Newton confirmed that Dean Jeremy Weinstein had accepted Summers’ resignation from his leadership role. He will remain on leave until the end of the academic year, when he is due to relinquish his university posts.

In November, Summers also resigned from the board of OpenAI. At the time, he said he was ‘deeply ashamed’ of his actions and intended to withdraw from public commitments.

(reuters, max)