Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is going through questions from congressional investigators Wednesday about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein after revelations that his contact with the late convicted intercourse offender prolonged years past what he initially claimed.
Lutnick is the highest-ranking Trump administration official prominently named within the Epstein information — outdoors of the president himself — and his look behind closed doorways marks an especially uncommon prevalence of a sitting Cabinet official testifying in a congressional probe. It underscores that the Epstein scandal nonetheless hangs over President Donald Trump and his administration, regardless of the president’s repeated efforts to maneuver on from the saga.
The secretary is predicted to face questions from the committee associated to his a number of interactions with Epstein, together with a 2012 visit to the financier’s notorious Caribbean island along with his spouse, nannies and kids.
While Lutnick has confronted requires his resignation, the White House has up to now expressed confidence in him. But the headache for the Trump administration received’t finish with Lutnick’s look. The Republican-led panel is predicted to query former Attorney General Pam Bondi later this month about her function in overseeing the discharge of the Epstein information, which has been mired in controversy.
Lutnick didn’t reply questions from reporters on Capitol Hill Wednesday.
House Oversight Chair James Comer instructed reporters forward of the interview that he deliberate to ask Lutnick why his interactions with Epstein spanned years past his preliminary claims. Although Comer conceded that Lutnick was not forthcoming about the extent of his interactions with Epstein, the Republican chairman stated judgment is as much as the American folks.
“We’re going to ask him all of these questions, and we’ll let the American people judge whether the credibility was damaged or not,” the Kentucky Republican stated in a response to a query from NCS. “At the end of the day, I haven’t seen wrongdoing in the email correspondence, but he wasn’t 100% truthful with whether he had been on the island. So we’ll see.”
In October 2025, Lutnick instructed the New York Post in a podcast interview that he and his spouse determined to chop off contact with Epstein in 2005 after the financier confirmed off a therapeutic massage desk and made suggestive feedback whereas giving them a tour of his dwelling. But the Epstein information revealed that the connection between the 2 males, who lived as neighbors in New York City, went on for much longer.
From electronic mail correspondence in 2011, a go to to Epstein’s island in 2012, investing in the identical enterprise enterprise in 2013, and corresponding about a neighborhood subject as late as 2018, Lutnick and Epstein saved involved years after Lutnick claimed to have reduce ties.
Beyond clarifying his personal report with Epstein, Comer stated Lutnick has helpful testimony for the Republican-led panel given his go to to Epstein’s island.
“We haven’t talked to too many people that have admitted they’ve been on the island,” Comer instructed reporters.
Testifying in entrance of a distinct Senate committee in February, Lutnick confirmed that he and his household had lunch with Epstein on his Caribbean island in 2012 however insisted that the 2 didn’t have a relationship.
“I did have lunch with him, as I was on a boat going across on a family vacation. My wife was with me, as were my four children and nannies,” Lutnick instructed the Senate committee on the time. “We had lunch on the island, that is true, for an hour, and we left with all of my children with my nannies and my wife. … I don’t recall why we did it.”
But the Commerce Secretary denied that he and Epstein had deeper ties.
“Of these millions and millions of documents, there may be 10 emails connecting me with him… over a 14 year period,” Lutnick instructed senators. “I did not have any relationship with him. I barely had anything to do with that person.”
Lutnick is showing voluntarily for the closed-door interview with the panel. While a transcript will likely be produced, the interview won’t be videotaped, two sources aware of the matter instructed NCS. Comer stated Wednesday the panel has a precedent for not videotaping witnesses who testify voluntarily.