Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick denies ties to Jeffrey Epstein

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick claimed Tuesday that he had no relationship with late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, but acknowledged visiting the financier's island in 2012 while on vacation with his family, amid growing calls from lawmakers demanding his resignation.

"I did not have any relationship with him. I barely had anything to do with that person," Lutnick testified at a hearing before a Senate committee.

Pressure on the commerce secretary has grown since the Department of Justice (DOJ) released documents from the Epstein case that contradict his earlier statements, in which he claimed to have severed any relationship with the financier more than 20 years ago.

A lunch on Epstein's island

Lutnick confirmed Tuesday that he met Epstein when the financier moved into a house next to his in New York. "I met him then," he told lawmakers. "Over the next 14 years, I met him two other times that I can recall — two times."

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who is the ranking member of the subcommittee, pressed him: "The files show that you had interactions with Epstein over the next 13 years, including long after he was convicted in 2008 of soliciting the prostitution of a minor."

Asked by Van Hollen whether he visited Epstein's private island in 2012, the commerce secretary replied that he had lunch with him there during a family vacation. "My wife was with me, as were my four children and nannies. I had another couple with, they were there as well, with their children, and we had lunch on the island — that is true — for an hour," he said.

Contradictions

Lutnick faces calls for his resignation from several lawmakers after the release of the Epstein case files contradicted his claims in a podcast last year, where he said he had decided to never "be in a room" with Epstein again after a 2005 visit to his home that disturbed the commerce secretary and his wife.

"Lutnick has no business being our Commerce Secretary, and he should resign immediately," Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff said Monday.

The day before, Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, who co-sponsored the bill to release the DOJ files on Epstein, asserted that the commerce secretary "should ... just resign."