Newly released emails show former Harvard president and Treasury secretary Larry Summers kept a congenial correspondence with Jeffrey Epstein well after Epstein’s 2008 conviction, yet the mainstream press barely moved the needle until political pressure forced attention. Those messages, made public by congressional releases, reveal a pattern of ongoing contact and casual banter that ought to have set off alarm bells across elite institutions long ago.
Within days of the disclosures Summers announced he would step back from public commitments, and several organizations quietly began severing formal ties, but some of the most powerful institutions still haven’t given a full accounting. The silence from certain media outlets and tech boards has been deafening while reputation-protecting spin cycles kicked into gear, leaving taxpayers and ordinary citizens with more questions than answers.
The substance of the emails is worse than mere acquaintanceship: they include flirtatious exchanges and, according to reports, Summers even sought Epstein’s counsel on pursuing a sexual relationship with a younger mentee. That kind of judgment — turning to a convicted sex offender for personal advice — is not only morally bankrupt, it’s a revelation about how the elite operate when shielded by status and networks.
Americans across the political spectrum should be outraged that prominent figures were allowed to trade favors and social access with a man convicted of exploiting minors, and then watch the story be downplayed or delayed by outlets that normally scream moral panic when conservatives stumble. This isn’t about partisan point-scoring; it’s about consistent standards of decency and accountability that the credentialed class never seem to apply to themselves. No institution is above scrutiny simply because its members wear robes or hold fancy titles.
President Trump publicly demanded a Justice Department review and officials say a top federal prosecutor has been asked to oversee inquiries into Epstein’s network, which now includes renewed scrutiny of Summers. That step toward an actual investigation is overdue, and every American who cares about equal justice should insist it be broad, transparent, and free from influence-peddling.
This episode fits a longer pattern for Summers, who left the Harvard presidency in 2006 amid controversy over his remarks on gender and has repeatedly shown a willingness to cozy up to the well-connected rather than stand with principle. Voters should note that influence, not integrity, too often dictates who keeps power in our elite institutions.
Conservatives and independents alike must push for full disclosure, immediate accountability, and institutional reform so that no one’s wealth or status buys immunity from investigation. If America is to restore trust in its universities, think tanks, and corporate boards, those institutions must stop protecting their own and start answering to the public they presume to lead.
