Harvard launches probe into Larry Summers’ ties with Epstein, university newspaper reports

(Reuters) -Harvard University will open a new probe into former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers’ connections with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein after newly released documents revealed the two shared an “unusually close relationship for years”, the University’s newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Harvard spokesperson Jonathan Swain wrote in a statement to The Harvard Crimson that “the University is conducting a review of information concerning individuals at Harvard included in the newly released Jeffrey Epstein documents to evaluate what actions may be warranted.”

Summers, a former president of Harvard University and where he is now a professor, told the Crimson on Monday that he will step back from all public commitments, days after President Donald Trump ordered the U.S. Justice Department to investigate his and other prominent Democrats’ ties to Epstein. Trump has said he had no connection to Epstein’s crimes.

The House Oversight Committee released thousands of files related to Epstein last Wednesday, including documents that showed personal correspondence between Summers and Epstein.

The university investigation will look into all other Harvard affiliates implicated across the documents released by the House, including Summers’ wife and nearly a dozen other Harvard affiliates past and present, the Crimson said.

The probe will cover any new information revealed in the Wednesday files, including the hundreds of messages Summers and Epstein exchanged over women, politics, and Harvard-related initiatives, it said.

Reuters could not immediately verify the Crimson report. Harvard and Summers office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Republican-controlled U.S. Congress voted almost unanimously on Tuesday to force the release of DOJ files on Epstein, an outcome Trump had fought for months before ending his opposition.

(Reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal in Bengaluru; Editing by Neil Fullick)