Why Was a Former Treasury Secretary Asking a Sex Trafficker About Trump?

Larry Summers treated Epstein as an intelligence source on Russian kompromat

In the 23,000 documents released this week, there’s an email from July 2018, right after the Helsinki summit where Trump met with Putin. It raises a question worth examining.

Why was Larry Summers asking Jeffrey Epstein if the Russians had kompromat on Trump?

Let me be clear about who Larry Summers is. This isn’t some conspiracy theorist with a blog. This is the former Treasury Secretary under Bill Clinton. Former president of Harvard. Former director of the National Economic Council under Obama. One of the most respected economists in the country. A man with access to the highest levels of government, finance, and academia.

And on July 17, 2018, the day after Trump’s disastrous press conference with Putin in Helsinki, Summers sent Epstein an email. “Do the Russians have stuff on Trump?” he wrote. “Today was appalling even by his standards.”

Think about what that means. Summers didn’t ask a government official. He didn’t ask a intelligence analyst. He didn’t ask a journalist covering the Russia beat. He asked a convicted sex offender who was already a registered predator when this email was sent.

Epstein’s response is almost as interesting as the question. He called Trump “totally predictable” and said he’d explain by phone. He wrote that Trump thinks “he has charmed his adversary” but “has no idea of the symbolism. He has no idea of most things.”

This wasn’t Epstein speculating. This was Epstein speaking with authority. And Summers was treating him as a credible source.

Here’s what makes this so damning. In June 2018, one month before Summers asked that question, Epstein had been reaching out to Russian officials offering to provide “insight” on Trump. He contacted the former Prime Minister of Norway, who was then leading the Council of Europe, suggesting that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov “can get insight on talking to me.” Epstein bragged that he’d already briefed Russia’s UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin, writing “Churkin was great. He understood Trump after our conversations.”

So when Summers asked Epstein if the Russians had kompromat on Trump, Epstein was actively positioning himself as someone who could explain Trump to Russian officials. Which means Summers either knew Epstein had these connections, or Epstein had told him enough to establish credibility as someone who would know the answer.

Let that sink in. A former Treasury Secretary believed that a convicted sex trafficker would have better intelligence about potential Russian kompromat on the sitting president than anyone in government.

This is the pattern in these documents. The story isn’t just what Epstein knew. The story is who believed he knew it. And why they thought asking him was a reasonable thing to do.

Summers wasn’t alone. The emails show multiple people in elite circles treating Epstein as an intelligence source after his conviction. Former Obama White House Counsel Kathy Ruemmler was exchanging emails with him about Trump’s behavior. Michael Wolff was having “100 hours” of conversations with him about Trump’s psychology. People were asking him about everything from Trump-Russia connections to whether Trump would survive politically.

The question isn’t whether Epstein actually had kompromat. The question is why so many powerful people acted like he did.

There are only a few possible explanations. Either Epstein was lying to all of them and they were gullible enough to believe it. Or Epstein had demonstrated enough knowledge over the years that they had reason to take him seriously. Or they knew something about Epstein’s operation that made him a credible source on this specific topic.

None of those explanations are good. And all of them suggest something much bigger than a few damaging emails.

The Helsinki summit, by the way, was widely considered a disaster. Trump stood next to Putin and said he believed Putin’s denial of election interference over his own intelligence agencies. Republicans called it a disgrace. Democrats called it treason. The whole thing looked like Trump was either compromised or just completely out of his depth.

And the day after, Larry Summers asked a sex trafficker if the Russians had something on him.

Summers has since said his relationship with Epstein was a “lapse in judgment.” He told the Wall Street Journal in 2023 that he regretted maintaining contact. But he hasn’t explained why he thought Epstein would be the right person to ask about Russian kompromat. He hasn’t explained what made him think Epstein would know.

The emails between Summers and Epstein span from 2013 to 2019. Hundreds of messages. Summers was asking Epstein’s advice on Harvard projects. Epstein was planning to donate $500,000 to a television show run by Summers’ wife. They met multiple times. This wasn’t a casual acquaintance.

And through all of that, at no point did Summers apparently think it was strange to consult a convicted sex criminal about matters of national security and presidential kompromat.

This is what the GriftMatrix is documenting. Not just what Epstein did, but how elite circles treated him. Not just whether he had leverage, but why powerful people acted like he did. Not just the scandals, but the system that enabled them.

Because if a former Treasury Secretary thought asking Epstein about Russian kompromat was normal, what else did these people think was normal?

And what else were they asking him?

FACT CHECK

Larry Summers Email to Epstein

“Do the Russians have stuff on Trump? Today was appalling even by his standards.” – July 17, 2018, day after Helsinki summit. Confirmed in House Oversight Committee document release, November 12, 2025.

Epstein’s Response

“Im sure his view is that it went super well. he thinks he has charmed his adversary.. Admittedly he has no idea of the symbolism. He has no idea of most things.” – Confirmed in same document release.

Epstein Contacting Russian Officials

June 24, 2018 email to Thorbjørn Jagland: “I think you might suggest to putin that lavrov can get insight on talking to me.” Reference to briefing Vitaly Churkin confirmed in same email. Churkin died in 2017.

Summers-Epstein Relationship

Harvard Crimson reviewed hundreds of emails between Summers and Epstein spanning 2013-2019. Epstein planned $500,000 donation to Poetry in America project led by Summers’ wife, donated $110,000 in 2016. Confirmed by Harvard Crimson investigation, November 13, 2025.