Harvard is secretly investigating at least two students who videotaped former school president Larry Summers as he apologized in class for his ties to convicted child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Students Rosie P. Couture and Lola DeAscentiis, who according to Harvard taped Summers without permission and attended classes for which they weren't registered, could face disciplinary action as severe as being forced to withdraw, the New York Times reported.
One of the videos shows Summers, who served as secretary of the Treasury under former president Bill Clinton, expressing regret over his ties to Epstein, saying he would withdraw "from public activities for a time."
"I think it's very important to fulfill my teaching obligations. And so, with your permission, I'm going to, we're going to, go forward and talk about the material in the class," Summers went on. The student who posted the video added a note: "This is how classes start at Harvard: Professors apologizing for their ties to Jeffrey Epstein."
News of the secret investigation comes on the heels of Harvard hiring Elom Tettey-Tamaklo, a Harvard Divinity School graduate whom the school refused to investigate after he assaulted an Israeli classmate during an anti-Israel protest.
Tettey-Tamaklo was caught on video accosting the first-year Israeli student in October 2023, for which he was charged with misdemeanor assault and battery and ordered to perform 80 hours of community service and take an anger management course. Harvard resisted cooperating with prosecutors, delaying the criminal justice process. Tettey-Tamaklo is now a graduate teaching fellow at the university, a position he has held since August.
The lack of a school-led investigation into Tettey-Tamaklo is a point of contention in the ongoing conflict between Harvard and the Trump administration. During the legal process, the Trump administration demanded that Harvard expel Tettey-Tamaklo, while a group of prominent business school alumni, including former senator Mitt Romney (R., Utah), wrote that Harvard's leadership failed to address "expressions of hate and vitriol against Jews."
Couture and DeAscentiis say the videos brought attention to Summers's Epstein controversy, prompting Harvard to investigate Summers and bar him from teaching. In November, Congress released emails that show correspondence between Summers and Epstein, including one in which Summers asked the sex offender for dating advice.
In response to Summers's complaint about a woman who no longer showed interest in him, Epstein wrote, "Shes smart. making you pay for past errors. ignore the daddy im going to go out with the motorcycle guy, you reacted well."
Summers in a statement to multiple outlets apologized for his connection to the trafficker. "I am deeply ashamed of my actions and recognize the pain they have caused," he wrote. "I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr. Epstein."
