• Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers will step back from public commitments amid scrutiny over his emails with Jeffrey Epstein.
• Summers expresses deep shame and takes full responsibility for maintaining contact with Epstein.
• The announcement follows the release of documents by the House Oversight Committee detailing Summers' correspondence with Epstein.

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers announced on Monday that he will be stepping back from all public commitments following the release of emails detailing his communication with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. In a statement, Summers expressed that this decision was part of his effort "to rebuild trust and repair relationships with the people closest to me," according to Reuters.

In the released emails, which comprise thousands of pages of documents made public by the House Oversight Committee, Summers stated, "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," as reported by ABC News and India Times.

Summers has held multiple significant positions, including serving as Treasury Secretary under President Bill Clinton and president of Harvard University. He will continue his teaching roles at Harvard while stepping back from other public roles, aiming to address the fallout from his association with Epstein, as detailed in reports from South China Morning Post and HuffPost.

The release of these emails has rekindled scrutiny over Summers' ties to Epstein and sparked renewed calls for institutions like Harvard to distance themselves from him. Senator Elizabeth Warren has publicly emphasized that such ties are problematic. The documents dating from 2013 to 2019 depict a range of discussions between Summers and Epstein regarding personal, political, and social issues, as reported by Al Jazeera.

Summers’ apology and decision to withdraw from public roles come in the context of political pressure following the Justice Department's investigation led by President Donald Trump into Epstein's associations with various political figures, adding to the complexity of the situation for Summers, according to South China Morning Post.