A tense Senate hearing this week forced Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to clarify his past contacts with Jeffrey Epstein, including a previously undisclosed visit to the disgraced financier’s private island.
According to the New York Post, under questioning from senators, Lutnick acknowledged that he had two interactions with Epstein after 2005 — despite earlier public comments suggesting he had cut off contact years earlier.
“We had lunch on the island, that is true, for an hour,” Lutnick told a Senate subcommittee, describing a 2012 stop at Epstein’s Caribbean property. He characterized the visit as brief and family-oriented.
“We left with all of my children, with my nannies and my wife. All together. We were on a family vacation. We were not apart ,,, I don’t recall why we did it, but we did.”
The admission followed the FBI’s Jan. 30 release of case files that referenced a 2012 island visit and a separate 2011 meeting. Lutnick also confirmed the May 2011 encounter.
“I met Jeffrey Epstein when I moved to a house next door to him in New York. Over the next 14 years, I met him two other times that I can recall — two times — and that is none for six years,” he said.
“I looked through the millions of documents for my name, just like everybody else. And what I found was there was a document that said I had a meeting with him in May, I think, for an hour at 5 o’clock,” he added.
In October, Lutnick told The Post that after touring Epstein’s townhouse in 2005, he “decided that I will never be in the room with that disgusting person ever again.” He also described Epstein as “the greatest blackmailer ever” and said “that’s how he had money.”
Pressed by lawmakers, Lutnick denied any improper relationship.
“There may be 10 emails connecting me with him — probably about 10 emails connecting me with him over a 14-year period,” he said. “I did not have any relationship with him. I barely had anything to do with that person. OK?”
Some members of Congress, including Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Robert Garcia, D-Calif., have called for his resignation.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the Commerce secretary and criticized continued focus on the Epstein matter.
“This week, national median rents have fallen to a four-year low [and] mortgage affordability this week surged to a four-year high, but not a single mention of that in this briefing room today,” Leavitt said.
“For an unprecedented ninth straight month, there were zero illegal border crossings at the southern border.”
She added, “Secretary Lutnick remains a very important member of President Trump’s team, and the president fully supports the secretary.”
