politics
Commerce Secretary Lutnick Testifies Before House Panel on Epstein Ties
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick appeared for a closed-door transcribed interview with the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Wednesday as part of its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. Lutnick told investigators he met Epstein only three times over a decade, cut ties in 2005 after seeing a massage table, but later acknowledged a 2012 visit to Epstein's private island with his…
May 6, 4:47 PM·2m read12 sources
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Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick gave a transcribed interview behind closed doors about his interactions with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Wednesday. m. m. It was not recorded on video. Lutnick is one of several high-profile individuals scheduled to speak with the panel following the Department of Justice's release of documents about Epstein, who killed himself in jail in August 2019 after his arrest on federal child sex trafficking charges.
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Lutnick previously said he cut contact with Epstein in 2005, several years before Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida state court to soliciting an underage girl for prostitution. Lutnick admitted to a Senate committee in February that he and his family visited Epstein's private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands in 2012.
He told House investigators on Wednesday he steered clear of Epstein after spotting a massage table in his home in 2005 but acknowledged two other encounters over the following seven years. The Commerce Secretary told the panel he met Epstein only three times over a decade.
He said he was surprised when Epstein invited him to the private island in 2012, adding that he didn’t know how Epstein’s assistants knew he was in the area and found it unsettling.
Democratic lawmakers accused Lutnick of lying to Congress and demanded his resignation after the closed-door deposition. One lawmaker called him a pathological liar who is enabling a cover-up.
Comer, the Kentucky Republican who chairs the committee, told reporters that Lutnick had only talked to Epstein three times over a decade. Comer accused Democrats on the panel of trying to make political hay of the interview and of lying about details of the Epstein investigation.
