Yet More Fallout for Larry Summers

Harvard economist Lawrence Summers is stepping away from his teaching and administrative roles at the university as the school investigates his connections to Jeffrey Epstein, the New York Times reports. Summers, who previously served as Harvard's president, will also step down as director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at the Kennedy School, according to his spokesperson. "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," the rep says.

The decision comes after newly released emails by a House committee revealed a close relationship between Summers and Epstein, including communications that took place after Epstein served jail time for sex crimes involving minors. The emails included personal exchanges, with Epstein at one point referring to himself as Summers' "wingman." Summers, who is married, and Epstein discussed one of Summers' "mentees," in whom he was romantically interested. Summers initially apologized but said he would fulfill his teaching obligations, but the AP reports that decision had come under scrutiny, with some students filming his appearance at an undergraduate class Tuesday.

Summers has also since resigned from the board of OpenAI, where he was credited with helping stabilize the board of the artificial intelligence start-up and guiding the company's transition to a for-profit structure. Summers has also ended affiliations with the Center for American Progress, the Center for Global Development, the Budget Lab at Yale University, the Peterson Institute for International Economics, and the Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution, the Washington Post reports. The Times Opinion section says it will not renew his contract as a contributing writer, nor will he return to Bloomberg TV as a paid contributor. Summers, who is tenured, will retain his professorship at Harvard while the investigation is ongoing. Harvard has a long history with Epstein, who donated more than $9 million to the university before his 2008 conviction.