What unfolded this week is a reminder that Washington’s revolving door and Ivy League privilege still protect the powerful far longer than they protect innocent Americans. Lawrence “Larry” Summers quietly announced he would step back from public commitments and resigned from the board of OpenAI on November 19, 2025 after a trove of messages tied him to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. That resignation is the sort of belated consequence voters deserve to see, but it should be only the beginning of real accountability.
Students inside a Harvard lecture hall captured video of Summers opening his class with an awkward admission of “shame,” insisting he would continue to fulfill teaching obligations even as his public life unraveled. The footage — shot on a phone and circulating on social platforms — shows a man who once ran Harvard now trying to play the role of penitent professor to a generation he once led. This is not contrition that cleans the stain; it’s a PR maneuver staged in front of captive students.
Summers’ retreat has not been limited to OpenAI; he has been quietly stripped of roles at major media outlets and think tanks, and Harvard has reopened a probe into his connections with Epstein as institutions scramble to save face. Summers released a statement expressing regret and promised to “rebuild trust,” but we all know words mean little when cushy board posts and influence flow so freely for the well-connected. The American people should demand more than an apology: they should demand transparency and consequences that fit the depth of the scandal.
Let’s not forget how this came to light: the House forced the release of documents from Epstein’s estate, and once again the swamp was exposed for harboring relationships that defy basic moral decency. The congressional push to make those records public proved necessary because the usual channels would have buried them indefinitely. If Washington had any interest in self-cleansing, this would not have required a public shove; the fact it did proves the system is broken and must be fixed.
OpenAI’s decision to even seat Summers on its board in November 2023 was emblematic of a tech elite more interested in prestige and insider insulation than in accountability or optics. The company — now a global powerhouse shaping the future of communication and information — cannot afford board members who bring scandal and moral questions to its door. Conservatives who have warned about unaccountable tech influence were right to scrutinize these appointments, and OpenAI must answer for how and why this hire was made.
Harvard’s response, and that of other institutions cutting ties, should not be performative theater; the university must conduct a thorough, public review and release its findings. Students and donors deserve to know whether Summers’ conduct affected campus decisions, hires, or the safety and welfare of those he mentored. If elite institutions continue to cover for their own, then the same rot will simply shift to the next bright face with the right last name and the right connections.
This is about more than one man — it’s about a culture that excuses improper alliances and rewards the well-connected while working-class Americans get left to pick up the pieces. Patriots who love this country should insist on full investigations, real consequences, and reforms that prevent a repeat of this corruption with new names and new companies. Our institutions must be defended from insider capture; our republic depends on it.
