Former Harvard President Larry Summers on leave from teaching amid Epstein ties probe

ISTANBUL

Former US Treasury Secretary and Harvard University President Larry Summers will take leave from his teaching and administrative roles at the school while the university investigates his relationship with the late convicted child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, The Harvard Crimson reported.

"His co-teachers will complete the remaining three class sessions of the courses he has been teaching with them this semester, and he is not scheduled to teach next semester," a spokesperson for Summers told the news outlet.

Summers will also take leave as director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at the Harvard Kennedy School.

"Mr. Summers has decided it's in the best interest of the Center for him to go on leave from his role as Director as Harvard undertakes its review," said the spokesperson.

The moves follow Summers' announcement Monday that he would step back from public commitments while continuing teaching, a position now superseded by the leave.

Summers resigned Wednesday from OpenAI's board of directors following backlash concerning previously undisclosed communications with Epstein.

Emails show Summers, who served under former President Bill Clinton and advised former President Barack Obama, repeatedly sought Epstein's guidance in pursuing a woman he described as his mentee. In one exchange, Epstein called himself the economist's "wing man."

US President Donald Trump signed a bill late Wednesday requiring the Justice Department to release files related to Epstein, who died in 2019 while facing sex trafficking charges.