Larry Summers is the archetype of the technocratic Democratic insider. A prodigy whose abilities in the academy propelled him to powerful roles in government, he has for decades enjoyed close relationships with nearly every important figure in left-of-center politics, including advising former presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and (in an informal role) Joe Biden. His CV gives the impression of the sort of shrewd politico who might broker an epic compromise to save the day in an episode of “The West Wing.”

Beyond the paragons of liberal society, Summers also has prodigious connections to more unsavory sorts, from financial bottom-feeders to goofy Silicon Valley founders like Jack Dorsey — and an outright criminal like human trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

So it felt overdue when the Harvard Crimson first reported Monday night that Summers would “step back from all public commitments.” Summers was “deeply ashamed,” he told the paper in a statement, and he took “full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr. Epstein.” The Harvard economist would continue teaching, he said in the statement, and he did not specify which commitments he’d be stepping back from.

Summers, it bears remembering, had been publicly chastened and made a comeback before.

He’s survived numerous scandals, including previous reporting on his connections to Epstein while serving as president of Harvard University. But nothing has laid bare his cavalier attitude toward the appearance of impropriety like the close friendship revealed in the newly released trove of Epstein’s emails. They contain frequent correspondence between the late billionaire sex criminal and both Summers and his wife, Elisa New, a literature professor emerita at Harvard. The emails shed new light on what Summers had previously told the Wall Street Journal was a relationship that “primarily focused on global economic issues.”

Indeed, the emails reveal the two men had a close relationship and discussed deeply personal issues together long after Epstein’s 2008 conviction on the charge of solicitation of a minor — up until July 5, 2019, the day before the financier’s final arrest and subsequent death. In one message, the married Summers bemoans his pursuit of an unnamed woman, to which Epstein offers his read on the situation: “shes smart. making you pay for past errors. … you reacted well.” In further reporting published Monday by the Crimson, Summers and Epstein also discussed the economist’s pursuit of a woman he reportedly referred to as a mentee, and the late financier dubbed himself Summers’s “wing man.”

Summers is a towering figure in economic discourse. The son of two economists and nephew of two........

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