Larry Summers, the former Secretary of the Treasury and ex-President of Harvard, is stepping back from his \u201cpublic roles\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0He plans (hopes) to\u00a0\u00a0maintain his \u201cprivate role\u201d as a professor at Harvard, but even that\u2019s a question for him right now.\u00a0\u00a0Summers maintained a close relationship with Jeffrey Epstein until the last months of Epstein\u2019s life, right before the once convicted pedophile was indicted again, imprisoned, and ultimately died in his prison cell.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is no evidence that Summers was involved in sex acts with underage women.\u00a0\u00a0The issue is that, even though Summers knew what Epstein was involved with, he continued to take financial, political and personal advice from him.\u00a0In one of their last emails, Summers asked Epstein for help with a new \u201cgirlfriend\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He clearly didn\u2019t find Epstein\u2019s personal actions rose to the level of cutting off their own private relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Summers is guilty; guilty of bad judgment.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s such bad judgment that it brings into question his ability to advise the \u201chigh and mighty\u201d about his own area of expertise, finance.\u00a0\u00a0Senator Elizabeth Warren, herself a former Harvard faculty member, asks whether Summers should be educating the next generation of financial experts.\u00a0\u00a0That\u2019s a good question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s the same question we need to ask of former President Bill Clinton.\u00a0\u00a0There is no current evidence that Clinton was engaged in inappropriate activities through Epstein.\u00a0\u00a0Clinton himself says that they shared a common interest in African economic development through the Clinton Foundation.\u00a0\u00a0But even at the time, the early 2000\u2019s, Clinton should have known that Epstein was more than \u201cshaky\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0At least Clinton cut ties with Epstein after his first sex offense conviction in 2007.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, we all know Bill Clinton\u2019s own history of sexual exploits.\u00a0\u00a0Of anyone, he should have been hyper-aware of the \u201coptics\u201d of Jeffrey Epstein.\u00a0\u00a0So, to use an old phrase, there\u2019s a lot of smoke, where\u2019s the fire?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How important was Jeffrey Epstein?\u00a0\u00a0To round-out the circle, one of Epstein\u2019s lawyers in the 2007 child-sex case was former Federal Judge and US Solicitor General Ken Starr.\u00a0\u00a0He was best known for prosecuting President Clinton, first for questionable Arkansas land deals, and ultimately for lying on a deposition about having sex with a White House intern.\u00a0\u00a0This led to Clinton\u2019s impeachment by the House, and acquittal by the Senate. (And my having to explain that oral sex was really still sex to a bunch of high school seniors in my government class!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Epstein had Starr, Harvard Professor Alan Dershowitz, and noted defense attorney Roy Black on his 2007 defense team.\u00a0\u00a0No wonder the US Attorney (and future Trump Secretary of Labor) Alex Acosta cut Epstein an incredibly lenient deal.\u00a0\u00a0He was looking at a legal \u201cdream team\u201d across the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, Americans want to know what prominent Americans like Summers, Clinton, current informal Presidential advisor Steve Bannon, and others had to do with Epstein.\u00a0\u00a0Sure there\u2019s the prurient interest; did these leaders actually abuse underage women (and men)?\u00a0\u00a0But there\u2019s also the \u201cSummers\u201d question.\u00a0\u00a0How did these leaders, and seemingly so many other prominent men, have the bad judgment to \u201cstick with Epstein\u201d, even after his actions were publicly revealed?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Recent published emails suggest that Epstein thought he had \u201cleverage\u201d over many of these men.\u00a0\u00a0Maybe it\u2019s the obvious: they participated in Epstein\u2019s ongoing underage sex \u201cbusiness\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Or maybe just the bad judgment they showed in \u201cusing\u201d Epstein for financial advice was enough to make them vulnerable.\u00a0\u00a0Either way, it\u2019s not just a matter of punishing the \u201cguilty\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0We must also question their judgment.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Americans ask a simple question, one that President Trump has failed to answer as well.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s unimaginable that all of these highly informed \u201cgentlemen\u201d didn\u2019t know what was going on.\u00a0\u00a0Here in Central Ohio, back in the early 1990\u2019s Epstein was a key part of the growth of Les Wexner\u2019s Limited Corporation.\u00a0\u00a0Even then, there were rumors of sexual impropriety at Wexner\u2019s New Albany mansion, involving both young women and men. If I heard them here in Pataskala, others must of heard them as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It may not be about\u00a0depraved actions, the commission of crimes. It\u2019s just as important to determine the depths of our leaders\u2019 judgment. What \u201comissions\u201d were they willing to tolerate?\u00a0\u00a0And perhaps just as important, what \u201ckompromat\u201d, if any, did Epstein use to control them? Because if he could do it then, and even now from beyond the grave; who else might have that same control?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We need to know.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"