Epstein Emails Reveal Summers Sought to Leverage Harvard Status for Sexual Access

Newly released emails from files tied to Jeffrey Epstein reveal an alarming pattern: Larry Summers, former U.S. Treasury secretary and one-time president of Harvard, sought advice from Epstein about using his professional standing to pursue a mentee. The messages provide an unusually candid window into how institutional influence can be leveraged for sexual access and the limits of legal protections outside formal employment relationships.

The exchanges

The correspondence shows Summers describing the young economist as a mentee while asking Epstein how to advance a personal relationship. In one November 2018 message Summers wrote, "Think for now I'm going nowhere with her except economics mentor." He later told Epstein that the mentee remained in contact because she "must be very confused or maybe wants to cut me off but wants professional connection a lot and so holds to it."

When Summers forwarded the mentee's request for comments on a paper, Epstein replied: "She's already begining to sound needy :) nice." In another exchange Epstein wrote that "she is never ever going to find another Larry summers. Probability ZERO." Summers even described his "best shot" as making himself appear "invaluable" so she would conclude she "can't have it without romance / sex."

Why this matters

These messages illustrate a form of exploitation that MacKinnon and other scholars identified decades ago: the use of professional power to extract sexual access. In her foundational 1979 work, Catharine MacKinnon defined sexual harassment as "the unwanted imposition of sexual requirements in the context of a relationship of unequal power." The harm is not only personal; it conditions a woman's career prospects and material wellbeing on sexual compliance.

Legal protections for sexual harassment developed largely within employment-discrimination law and therefore often do not cover misconduct that occurs outside a direct employer–employee relationship. A senior scholar, a funder, or any institutional gatekeeper can wield comparable influence. When such actors condition career advancement on sex but stop short of criminal assault, victims frequently have no effective legal remedy for the professional damage or psychological harm they suffer.

The broader context and what should change

The #MeToo movement broadened public understanding of these dynamics by highlighting cases in which powerful people used professional clout to prey on those seeking opportunity. Although #MeToo has faced backlash, it also helped spur bipartisan reforms that reduced obstacles to enforcing harassment claims. The Epstein files—and bipartisan agreement to make them public—offer another moment for lawmakers, institutions, and the public to focus on misconduct that falls outside conventional workplace protections.

Senator Elizabeth Warren has urged Harvard to sever ties with Summers, arguing he "cannot be trusted to advise our nation’s politicians, policymakers and institutions—or teach a generation of students at Harvard or anywhere else." Beyond that moral claim, the released emails suggest Summers leveraged the prestige of Harvard to try to obtain sexual access; institutions that confer authority should consider whether continued association is appropriate.

At minimum, the revelations should renew attention to two linked imperatives: first, strengthening policies and norms that protect early-career professionals from exploitation by gatekeepers outside formal employment; and second, ensuring institutions act promptly to cut ties with individuals who appear to have traded on institutional status to pursue sexual favors.