Officials at Harvard University have begun a secret disciplinary investigation into two students who posted videos of the university's former president, Larry Summers, discussing his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Summers addressed his relationship with Epstein while at a Harvard lecture hall last month.
The students, Rosie Couture and Lola DeAscentiis, who uploaded the video, took credit for pressuring Summers to step away from teaching at the university.
The investigation will determine whether the students who publicly criticized Summers violated a series of rules, including attending a class they were not enrolled in, according to three people briefed on the matter.
The students attended the class a week after emails were released by Congress that showed a close relationship between Summers and Epstein.
It is also against the rules to record classes without consent or to publicize those recordings.
In the video, Summers said he would step back from public activities but continue teaching at Harvard.
"This is how classes start at Harvard: Professors apologizing for their ties to Jeffrey Epstein," the students wrote on their video.
The day after the video was released last month, Summers said he would be stepping back from teaching.
The next day, one of the students attended the class and filmed the new professor teaching.
Potential discipline could range from a private reprimand to being forced to withdraw from the school.
"The College prohibits unauthorized recording of classroom proceedings to protect classrooms as spaces for intellectual exploration and risk-taking, to respect student privacy, and to prevent chilling effects that undermine participation and inquiry," the university said in a statement.
The emails between Summers and Epstein include messages in which Summers appeared to be getting advice from Epstein about pursuing a romantic relationship with someone who viewed him as an "economic mentor."
"im a pretty good wing man, no?" Epstein wrote on Nov. 30, 2018.
The next day, Summers told 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 2015 message in which she thanked him for arranging financial support for a poetry project she directs.
The gift he arranged "changed everything for me," she wrote.
"It really means a lot to me, all financial help aside, Jeffrey, that you are rooting for me and thinking about me," she wrote.
An earlier review completed in 2020 found that Epstein visited Harvard's campus more than 40 times after his 2008 sex-crimes conviction and was given his own office and unfettered access to a research center he helped establish.
Summers served as Treasury secretary from 1999 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He was Harvard's president from 2001 to 2006.
When asked about the emails last month, Summers issued a statement saying he has "great regrets in my life" and that his association with Epstein was a "major error in judgement."
Harvard has said it is reviewing the ties between Epstein and Summers.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.