Larry Summers to relinquish Harvard teaching role amid Epstein investigation | Jeffrey Epstein

Former Harvard University president Larry Summers will stop teaching at the school while it investigates his connection to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, Summers’ spokesman said Wednesday.

Emails recently released by the US House oversight committee have reignited questions about Summers’ relationship with Epstein; Many of the messages indicated the friendship lasted into 2019. Communication only ceased shortly before Epstein’s arrest in July of that year.

Harvard Crimson He was the first to break the news.

Summers’ spokesman, Steven Goldberg, told the newspaper that Summers, an economist and former U.S. treasury secretary, is not scheduled to teach next semester and that his assistant teachers will take over the remaining classes this semester.

Summers will also immediately step down as director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at Harvard Kennedy School, which he has led since 2011.

“Mr. Summers has determined that it is in the best interest of the center for him to step down as director as Harvard undertakes its review,” Goldberg said.

The announcement came just days after Summers announced he would back away from public commitments in light of resurfaced messages with Epstein but would continue teaching.

The emails show Summers asking Epstein for advice on establishing a romantic relationship with a woman he described as a mentee. In a 2018 message, Epstein refers to himself as Summers’ “team man.”

summers too OpenAI resigned from its board on Wednesday.