Harvard rocked by fresh Epstein scandal involving female professor
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Former Harvard President Larry Summers, who recently faced public scrutiny, reportedly spent his honeymoon on the private island owned by billionaire and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Summers was accompanied by his wife, Elisa New, an English professor at Harvard.

New and Summers traveled to Epstein’s island, Little Saint James, via Epstein’s notorious private jet, commonly referred to as the ‘Lolita Express.’ This trip took place shortly after their wedding, just as Summers resigned from his position at Harvard amid a scandal involving emails in which he called Epstein his ‘wingman.’

According to flight logs made accessible by The Harvard Crimson, the couple departed from Bedford, Massachusetts, on December 11, 2005, just ten days post-nuptials and while Summers still held the presidency.

The records further indicate that the couple was joined on the flight by Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former associate and girlfriend, as well as Epstein’s pilot, Larry Visoski.

A spokesperson for Summers commented, “Mr. Summers and Ms. New enjoyed their honeymoon in St. John and Jamaica in December 2005, a time well before Mr. Epstein’s initial arrest.”

‘As part of that trip, they made a brief visit of less than a day to Mr. Epstein’s island.’

However, it did come six months after Palm Beach police began investigating Epstein over the rape of a 14-year-old girl and two months after police had executed a search warrant on his mansion.

Epstein hired Harvard Professor Alan Dershowitz just days before the visit by Summers and New. 

Disgraced Harvard economist Larry Summers (pictured center with Reid Hoffman in 2022) spent his honeymoon with Elisa New (pictured right) one of the school's English professors on billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein's private island

Disgraced Harvard economist Larry Summers (pictured center with Reid Hoffman in 2022) spent his honeymoon with Elisa New (pictured right) one of the school’s English professors on billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s private island

Summers left the school earlier this week over embarrassing emails where he referred to Epstein (pictured) as his 'wingman.'

Summers left the school earlier this week over embarrassing emails where he referred to Epstein (pictured) as his ‘wingman.’

The honeymoon trip is one of four publicly known flights Summers took on one of Epstein’s planes and three he took while running Harvard. 

New remains a professor emerita at Harvard in the school’s English department, teaching American Literature. She has been employed by the school since 1999. 

The Daily Mail has reached out to a spokesperson for Harvard University for comment. 

New is featured in the emails that were released by the House Oversight Committee earlier this week.  

The documents show that New discussed her personal projects at length with Epstein, soliciting thousands of dollars from him even after Harvard said it would stop taking contributions from the disgraced financier.

In one 2014 exchange, New and Epstein discussed a $500,000 gift to Poetry in America, a television show and digital initiative she spearheaded.

The emails also show she once accepted an unspecified amount of money from Leon Black, an executive at private equity firm Apollo, in a gift she wrote Epstein helped broker.

‘It really means a lot to me, all financial help aside, Jeffrey, that you are rooting for me and thinking about me,’ she wrote in December 2015.

Nearly 200 people who visited Jeffrey Epstein 's 'pedo' island Little St James left a trail of mobile device data which links them to homes and offices in the US around the world

Nearly 200 people who visited Jeffrey Epstein ‘s ‘pedo’ island Little St James left a trail of mobile device data which links them to homes and offices in the US around the world 

The main property on Little St James is surrounded by several other structures including the maids' quarters and a massive, square-shaped white building on one end of the island that some say is a music room fitted with acoustic walls

The main property on Little St James is surrounded by several other structures including the maids’ quarters and a massive, square-shaped white building on one end of the island that some say is a music room fitted with acoustic walls

Summers, who once served as the US’s Treasury Secretary, will not conduct the last few lectures of his class for the fall semester and will not teach any courses in the spring

‘His co-teachers will complete the remaining three class sessions of the course he has been teaching with them this semester,’ a spokesperson told the Harvard Crimson.

Summers, who once also served as the president of the prestigious university, will also take an immediate leave from his position as director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at the Harvard Kennedy School.

‘Mr. Summers has decided it’s in the best interest of the Center for him to go on leave from his role as director as Harvard undertakes its review,’ the spokesperson said.

A university representative has since confirmed Summers shared his intentions with the school, which had announced hours earlier it is conducting a ‘review of information concerning individuals included in the newly-released Epstein documents to evaluate what actions may be warranted.’

Summers had previously said he would be ‘stepping back’ from public life but would continue to teach economics at Harvard after damning emails revealed how he had been communicating with Epstein for years.

He even asked the pedophile for sex and love advice – prompting Epstein to refer to himself as Summers’ ‘wingman.’  

‘I am deeply ashamed of my actions and recognize the pain they have caused. I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr. Epstein,’ Summers said on Monday.

The logs show Summers and New flew alongside Epstein's infamous madam and ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell (pictured) and his former pilot, Larry Visoski

The logs show Summers and New flew alongside Epstein’s infamous madam and ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell (pictured) and his former pilot, Larry Visoski

In email exchanges dated between 2013 and 2019, Summers and Epstein shared their thoughts about current events and politics - while also delving into the married economics professor's love life. Epstein is pictured smiling at Summers in 2004

In email exchanges dated between 2013 and 2019, Summers and Epstein shared their thoughts about current events and politics – while also delving into the married economics professor’s love life. Epstein is pictured smiling at Summers in 2004

Summers analyzed his exchange with a woman in classic economic terms, by weighing up how he could maximize profit from what he gave in the exchange with Epstein

Summers analyzed his exchange with a woman in classic economic terms, by weighing up how he could maximize profit from what he gave in the exchange with Epstein

‘While continuing to fulfill my teaching obligations, I will be stepping back from public commitments as one part of my broader effort to rebuild trust and repair relationships with the people closest to me.’ 

Summers has now severed his relationships with think tanks Center for American Progress and the Center for Global Development and has stepped down from his position on the board of OpenAI.

‘Larry has decided to resign from the OpenAI Board of Directors, and we respect his decision,’ the company said. ‘We appreciate his many contributions and the perspective he brought to the Board.’

Meanwhile, The New York Times Opinions section and Bloomberg News announced they would not be renewing his contract as a contributing writer.

But over the past few days, pressure has been mounting on Summers to step away from his teaching position – with Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren urging Harvard to cut ties with him.

She told CNN she believes Summers ‘cannot be trusted’ with young college students given his lengthy friendship with Epstein.

Warren added that Summers displayed ‘monumentally bad judgment’ in his messages with Epstein while he was married to New. 

It is unclear whether they have an open relationship or if he was cheating on his partner of now-20 years.

Summers previously served as the Treasury Secretary in the Clinton administration

Summers previously served as the Treasury Secretary in the Clinton administration

Former Vice President Al Gore is pictured congratulating Summers after he was sworn in as treasury secretary in 1999

Former Vice President Al Gore is pictured congratulating Summers after he was sworn in as treasury secretary in 1999

Summers told The Harvard Crimson last week that he regretted his friendship with Epstein. 

‘I have great regrets in my life. As I have said before, my association with Jeffrey Epstein was a major error of judgment,’ he said. 

Summers has worked at Harvard since 1993, when he became an economics professor. He then served as the school’s president from 2001 to 2006, when he resigned following a faculty no-confidence vote due to a speech he made suggesting the lack of women in science and engineering might be connected to differences in their aptitudes for the subjects.

Prior to joining the faculty at Harvard he served as the Treasury Secretary for the Clinton administration. He has also advised Joe Biden’s presidential campaign.

But when Harvard conducted a review of Epstein’s ties to the school – including financial documents and meetings with members of the faculty – Summers name came up in a citation for the website for the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, which he established with funding from Epstein.

According to the May 2020 report, Epstein visited the program’s offices dozens of times between 2010 and 2018, the Wall Street Journal reports.  

In the email exchanges dated between 2013 and 2019, Summers and Epstein frequently shared their thoughts about current events and politics – while also delving into the married economics professor’s love life. 

He complained to the now-disgraced financier in one of the messages about feeling like ‘the friend without benefits’ in his relationship with a woman who jilted him in 2019, and asked him for tips on how to reply to her texts. 

The emails came long after Epstein pleaded guilty to sex crimes against children in 2008 – and Harvard had already stopped accepting donations from him the previous year in light of the allegations.

In the end, Harvard officials have said Epstein donated more than $9 million to the school prior to his death in 2019.

The school has since agreed to adopt new guidelines on accepting potentially controversial gifts and revise its procedures for appointing visiting fellows – a one-year non-degree seeking research position Epstein held in 2005 under Summers’ presidency. 

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