In the Epstein emails, money, power, and intellectual clubbiness collide

Good morning. Today we’re bringing you the latest about documents related to Jeffrey Epstein — and the fallout for a prominent Massachusetts couple who corresponded with him for years. But first, here’s what else is going on:

• Congress overwhelmingly passed legislation forcing the Trump administration to release Epstein-related files, sending it to President Trump. But even if Trump signs it, some backers worry that the investigations he ordered into any Democrats mentioned in the files could delay their release.
• The US Education Department moved billions of dollars in grant programs it oversees to other agencies, accelerating the administration’s plan to shut down the department.
• 311 Omakase in the South End became the first Boston restaurant to earn a Michelin star after the prestigious guide added the city to its latest northeast edition. See the other local restaurants Michelin recognized and read Globe restaurant critic Devra First’s analysis.

Today’s Starting Point

Larry Summers has long been paid to exercise judgment. As the president of Harvard, he shepherded the world’s most prestigious university. As President Bill Clinton’s Treasury secretary, he counseled the world’s most powerful man. As a TV and newspaper pundit, Summers sat in judgment of prominent people and their decisions.

So when newly released emails showed that Summers corresponded with Jeffrey Epstein for years after the latter pleaded guilty to sex crimes, the fallout was swift. Summers said he would step back from public commitments and resigned from several of his positions.

Summers wasn’t the only powerful academic to keep in touch with Epstein. So did others — including Summers’ wife, Elisa New, an emeritus Harvard literature professor who specializes in analyzing poetry. How did a couple paid for their discernment make what Summers now calls “a major error” of judgment? What emerges is a parable about intellectual clubbiness, proximity to power, and the pressure to fund-raise.

Money, first

Epstein was a wealthy financier who donated millions to hospitals, universities, and nonprofits. The emails show New soliciting his support for Poetry in America, an educational initiative she directs.

In 2014, New emailed Epstein after hearing that he wanted to contribute. “Hallelujah and thank you a million times,” she wrote. In 2015, New signed off with a personal touch: “It really means a lot to me, all financial help aside, Jeffrey, that you are rooting for me and thinking about me.”

Intellectual exercise

Other emails suggest Summers and New took an intellectual interest in Epstein, who cultivated a scholarly air.

The emails show the brainy couple corresponding casually with Epstein about geopolitics, math, and literature. Summers referenced President Trump’s “proximity” to Russia’s Vladimir Putin and traded ideas about probability with Epstein. One of New’s emails asks, “When are we reading Whitman together.”

Proximity to power

Epstein’s purported knowledge of other elites may have had its own allure. Summers occasionally ran gossip by Epstein. “How plausible is idea that trump is real cocaine user?” he wrote in 2016. In some cases, access seems to have gone both ways. In the same thread, Epstein asked Summers whether someone at Harvard could show a friend around campus. Summers said yes. 

Points of Interest

Boston: Demand and lagging construction have kept rents staggeringly high. But organizers say they’re on track to put a measure on next year’s ballot that would limit annual rent increases in Massachusetts to 5 percent.

Massachusetts: This sex shop has been a Cambridge landmark for generations. With the store closing next week, its owner is reflecting on what it meant to customers.

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