Larry Summers used racist language in messages to Epstein

Larry Summers used racist language in messages to pedophile Jeffrey Epstein about a woman he was pursuing romantically. "I'd be happy to have a rational affair w yellow peril," he wrote, minutes after telling the pedophile he was "way smitten with her so woukd sacrifuce lots for being w her." The pedophile described himself as Summers's wingman and coached him through the relationship.

Those messages, released by a congressional committee in November, are why Summers is now leaving Harvard for good. The former Treasury secretary and Harvard president will be gone by the end of this academic year, the New York Times reports. He also gave up his role as co-director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government and hasn't been on campus since November.

Summers said he'd made "the difficult decision" to retire and that he "will always be grateful to the thousands of students and colleagues I have been privileged to teach and work with since coming to Harvard as a graduate student 50 years ago."

When Harvard investigated its own ties to the pedophile in 2020, Summers barely came up — a single reference to him, about his role launching an Epstein-conceived program. The university punted on investigating an Epstein-related donation to a nonprofit led by Summers's wife, Harvard literature professor Elisa New, because the money didn't go directly to Harvard.

Previously:

• Larry Summers quits Harvard teaching amid Epstein probe
• Why did Jeffrey Epstein have his own office at Harvard?
• Billionaire called Epstein 'one of the blessings in my life'