Officials at Harvard University launched a secret disciplinary investigation into students who recorded Larry Summers discussing his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, The New York Times reports.
Summers, who served as treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton , is under intense scrutiny for his dealings with Epstein. He resigned from his position at OpenAI in November following the appearance of his name in emails with Epstein and was included in photos recently released by Epstein’s estate.
The students, Rosie P. Couture and Lola DeAscentiis, posted videos online last month of the former Harvard president addressing his ties to late sex trafficker. The university is looking into whether those recordings violated school policies.
“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.
Couture and DeAscentiis face consequences ranging from a verbal reprimand to expulsion from the university.
In the widely shared video, Summers expressed “regret” and “shame” for his connection to Epstein at the start of a lecture.
“I’m gonna step back from pubic activities for a while,” Summers said. “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.”
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News of the investigation has drawn criticisms from lawmakers and academics. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said “speech defenders should oppose penalizing these students.” Khanna, along with Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., is behind the bipartisan act that calls for the Department of Justice to release the Epstein files.
“While university classrooms are semi-private spaces with recording policies to protect privacy, disciplining feminist students for exposing concerns about a public figure & former president’s ties to Epstein chills speech,” Khanna wrote on X.
Steven Durlauf, a leading professor at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy, accused Harvard of “shameful misconduct.”
“An unconditional rule against recording would prevent students from gathering evidence about classroom misconduct,” Durlauf said in a post on X.
