Academic society bans Larry Summers for life over his close ties to Jeffrey Epstein

BOSTON AP Former U S Treasury Secretary Larry Summers was banned for life Tuesday from an academic society in the latest fallout over lately distributed emails showing he maintained a friendly relationship with Jeffrey Epstein after the disgraced financier pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor Related Articles Trump says he s rebuilding Dulles airport while his administration is fixing the people movers Crackdown on trucking schools shouldn t disrupt industry But scrutiny on immigrant drivers might Experts explain what the law says about killing survivors of a boat strike Chances dwindling for renewal of fitness care subsidies risking premium spikes for millions Doodling drowsiness and a conspicuous misspelling highlight Trump s last Cabinet meeting of The American Economic Association a nonprofit scholarly association dedicated to economic research announced it had accepted Summers resignation and banned him for life from attending speaking at or otherwise participating in its events The AEA condemns Mr Summers conduct as reflected in publicly revealed communications as fundamentally inconsistent with its standards of professional integrity and with the trust placed in mentors within the economics profession the group mentioned in a announcement A spokesperson for Summers declined to comment The Epstein emails include messages in which Summers appeared to be getting advice from Epstein about pursuing a romantic relationship with a woman who viewed him as an economic mentor im a pretty good wing man no Epstein wrote on Nov The next day Summers informed Epstein he had texted the woman telling her he had something brief to say to her Am I thanking her or being sorry re my being married I think the former he wrote Summers wife Elisa New also emailed Epstein multiple times including a message in which she thanked him for arranging financial patronage for a poetry project she directs After the emails came out last month Summers went on leave from teaching at Harvard University and from his position as director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Administration at the Harvard Kennedy School Other organizations that ended their affiliations with Summers include the Center for American Progress the Center for Global Enhancement and the Budget Lab at Yale University Epstein who government say died by suicide in jail in was a convicted sex offender with vast connections to wealthy and powerful people making him a fixture of outrage and conspiracy theories about wrongdoing among American elites Summers served as treasury secretary from to under President Bill Clinton He was Harvard s president for five years from to When solicited about the emails last week Summers issued a report saying he has great regrets in my life and that his association with Epstein was a major error in judgement