Harvard University is reinvestigating connections between its former President Larry Summers and Jeffrey Epstein, a university spokesperson said on Nov. 19. The university didn't mention Summers by name, but the decision to reopen a probe follows the release of emails showing that Summers, a former U.S. Treasury secretary, maintained a friendly relationship with Epstein long after the financier pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from an underage girl in 2008. “The University is conducting a review of information concerning individuals at Harvard included in the newly released Jeffrey Epstein documents to evaluate what actions may be warranted,” spokesperson Jason Newton said in a statement first reported by The Boston Globe and The Harvard Crimson. An earlier review completed in 2020 found that Epstein visited Harvard’s campus more than 40 times after his 2008 sex crimes conviction and was given his own office and unfettered access to a research center he helped establish. The professor who provided the office was later barred from starting new research or advising students for at least two years. Summers said on Nov. 18 that he’s stepping back from public commitments. His office said that includes resigning from the board of directors of OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. “I am grateful for the opportunity to have served, excited about the potential of the company, and look forward to following their progress,” he said in a statement. The board of OpenAI said it appreciated Summers’ contributions and perspective. Summers joined the OpenAI board in November 2023, part of an effort to restore stability at the nonprofit and bring back its CEO Sam Altman after its previous board members fired Altman days earlier. Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019, was a convicted sex offender infamous for his connections to wealthy and powerful people, making him a fixture of outrage and conspiracy theories about wrongdoing among American elites. Summers served as Treasury secretary from 1999 to 2001 under President Clinton. He was Harvard’s president for five years from 2001 to 2006. When asked about the emails recently, Summers issued a statement saying he has “great regrets in my life” and that his association with Epstein was a “major error in judgement.”

President Donald Trump has pardoned his former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, his onetime chief of staff Mark Meadows, and others accused of backing the Republican's efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The “full, complete, and unconditional" pardon for dozens of Trump allies are largely symbolic. It applies only to federal crimes, and none of the people named in the proclamation was ever charged federally over the bid to subvert the election won by Democrat Joe Biden. It doesn't affect state charges, though state prosecutions stemming from the 2020 election have hit a dead end or are just limping along. The move, however, underscores Trump’s continued efforts to promote the idea that the 2020 election was stolen from him even though courts around the country and Trump's own attorney general at the time found no evidence of fraud that could have affected the outcome. Reviews, recounts and audits of the election in the battleground states where Trump contested his loss also affirmed Biden's victory. Trump's recent action follows the sweeping pardons of the hundreds of Trump supporters charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, including those convicted of attacking law enforcement. Ed Martin, the Department of Justice's point-man on pardons and a former lawyer for Jan. 6 defendants, linked his announcement of the pardons to a post on X that read “No MAGA left behind.” Dozens of Trump allies received pardons Among those also pardoned were Sidney Powell, an attorney who promoted baseless conspiracy theories about a stolen election, John Eastman, another lawyer who pushed a plan to keep Trump in power, and Jeffrey Clark, a former Department of Justice official who championed Trump’s efforts to challenge his election loss. Also named were Republicans who acted as fake electors for Trump and were charged in state cases accusing them of submitting false certificates that confirmed they were legitimate electors despite Biden's victory in those states. The proclamation explicitly says the pardon does not apply to the president himself, who has continued to repeat the lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him, used that falsehood to argue for sweeping changes in the way the country votes, and demanded his DOJ investigate the vote count that led to his loss. The pardon described efforts to prosecute the Trump allies as "a grave national injustice perpetrated on the American people” and said the pardons were designed to continue “the process of national reconciliation.” Giuliani and others have denied any wrongdoing, arguing they were simply challenging an election they believed was tainted by fraud. “These great Americans were persecuted and put through hell by the Biden Administration for challenging an election, which is the cornerstone of democracy,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in an emailed statement. Those pardoned were not prosecuted by the Biden administration, however. They were charged only by state prosecutors who operate separately from the DOJ. An Associated Press investigation after the 2020 election found 475 cases of potential voter fraud across the six battleground states, far too few to change the outcome. Impact of pardons is limited Giuliani, a former New York City mayor, was one of the most vocal supporters of Trump’s unsubstantiated claims of large-scale voter fraud after the 2020 election. He also is an example of the limited impact of the pardons. Giuliani has been disbarred in Washington, D.C., and New York over his advocacy of Trump’s bogus election claims and lost a $148 million defamation case brought by two former Georgia election workers whose lives were upended by conspiracy theories he pushed. Since pardons only absolve people from legal responsibility for federal crimes, they're unlikely to ease Giuliani's legal woes. Ted Goodman, a spokesperson for Giuliani, said the former mayor “never sought a pardon but is deeply grateful for President Trump’s decision.” “Mayor Rudy Giuliani stands by his work following the 2020 presidential election, when he responded to the legitimate concerns of thousands of everyday Americans,” Goodman said in an emailed statement. While the pardons may have no immediate legal impact, experts warned they send a dangerous message for future elections. “It is a complete abdication of the responsibility of the federal government to ensure we don’t have future attempts to overturn elections,” said Rick Hasen, a UCLA law professor. “Ultimately, the message it sends is, ‘We'll take care of you when the time comes.’” Some pardoned were co-conspirators in Trump's federal case Trump himself was indicted on federal felony charges accusing him of working to overturn his 2020 election defeat, but the case brought by DOJ special counsel Jack Smith was abandoned in November after Trump's victory over Democrat Kamala Harris because of the department's policy against prosecuting sitting presidents. Giuliani, Powell, Eastman and Clark were alleged co-conspirators in the federal case brought against Trump but were never charged with federal crimes. Giuliani, Meadows and others named in the proclamation had been charged by prosecutors in Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin over the 2020 election, but the cases have repeatedly hit roadblocks or have been dismissed. A judge in September dismissed the Michigan case against 15 Republicans accused of attempting to falsely certify Trump as the winner of the election in that battleground state. Eastman, a former dean of Chapman University Law School in Southern California, was a close adviser to Trump in the wake of the 2020 election and wrote a memo laying out steps Vice President Mike Pence could take to stop the counting of electoral votes while presiding over Congress’ joint session on Jan. 6 to keep Trump in office. Clark, who is now overseeing a federal regulatory office, also is facing possible disbarment in Washington over his advocacy of Trump's claims. Clark clashed with DOJ superiors over a letter he drafted after the 2020 election that said the department was investigating “various irregularities” and had identified “significant concerns” that may have affected the election in Georgia and other states. Clark said in a social media post on Nov. 10 that he “did nothing wrong” and “shouldn't have had to battle this witch hunt for 4+ years.”

President Donald Trump has pardoned former New York Mets great Darryl Strawberry of tax evasion and drug charges, citing the 1983 National League Rookie of the Year's post-career embrace of his Christian faith and longtime sobriety. Strawberry was an outfielder and eight-time All-Star, including seven with the Mets from 1983 to 1990. He hit 335 homers and had 1,000 RBIs and 221 stolen bases in 17 seasons. Plagued by later legal, health and personal problems, Strawberry was indicted for tax evasion and eventually pleaded guilty in 1995 to a single felony count. That was based on his failure to report $350,000 in income from autographs, personal appearances and sales of memorabilia. Strawberry agreed to pay more than $430,000 as part of the case. He was diagnosed with colon cancer and underwent surgery and chemotherapy in 1998. The following year, Strawberry was sentenced to probation and suspended from baseball after pleading no contest to charges of possession of cocaine and soliciting a prostitute. He eventually spoke in court about struggling with depression and was charged with violating his probation numerous times — including on his 40th birthday in 2002. Strawberry ultimately served 11 months in Florida state prison and was released in 2003. A White House official said on Nov. 7 that Trump approved a pardon for Strawberry who had served time and paid back taxes. Speaking on background to detail a pardon that had not yet been formally announced, the official noted that Strawberry found faith in Christianity and has been sober for a decade-plus, and that he'd become active in ministry and started a still-active recovery center. Strawberry posted on Instagram a picture of himself and Trump and wrote, “Thank you, President @realdonaldtrump for my full pardon and for finalizing this part of my life, allowing me to be truly free and clean from all of my past.” He described being home on Nov. 6, caring for his wife who was recovering from surgery, “when my phone kept ringing relentlessly.” “Half asleep, I glanced over and saw a call from Washington DC. Curious, I answered, and to my amazement, the lady on the line said, ‘Darryl Strawberry, you have a call from the President of the United States, Donald Trump,’” Strawberry wrote. “I put it on speakerphone with my wife nearby, and President Trump spoke warmly about my baseball days in NYC, praising me as one the greatest player of the ’80s and celebrating the Mets. Then, he told me he was granting me a full pardon from my past.” Strawberry said he was “overwhelmed with gratitude — thanking God for setting me free from my past, helping me become a better Man, Husband and Father.”