Howard Lutnick, President Donald Trump’s commerce secretary, denied on Tuesday that he misled the public on his past interactions with the late Jeffrey Epstein and downplayed his association with the disgraced child sex offender.
During questioning from Democrats at a Senate appropriations committee hearing on broadband, Lutnick, who for years lived next door to Epstein’s New York City mansion, said he met the billionaire financier three times over the course of 14 years.
“I did not have any relationship with him,” Lutnick testified. “I barely had anything to do with that person.”
Lutnick, himself a billionaire, is under scrutiny after the latest tranche of Epstein filings from the Department of Justice revealed more dealings with Epstein than were previously disclosed, including after he became a convicted sex offender in 2008. Lutnick previously claimed he and his wife severed ties with Epstein in 2005, but emails in the Epstein filings showed the two had sporadic contact for years, including as recently as 2018, long after Epstein’s initial guilty plea in Florida for sex crimes involving soliciting prostitution from a minor.
Lutnick planned to get drinks with Epstein in 2011, and Lutnick and his family had lunch on Epstein’s infamous private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands in December 2012, according to emails. The two also emailed in 2018 about a construction project across the street from their New York residences.
Lutnick admitted to three in-person interactions with Epstein, including in 2012 on the island, during questioning from Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and testified that it was his final face-to-face encounter with Epstein.
“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 explained. “I had another couple — they were there as well with their children, and 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 all together. We were on family vacation. We were not apart. To suggest there was anything untoward about that in 2012 — I don’t recall why we did it.”
Lutnick further said he did not witness any inappropriate behavior on the island, which was the site of frequent parties and sexual encounters with underage girls. Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s accomplice in sexually abusing minors, was not present for the lunch.
Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) also raised concerns, saying it “troubles me that you took your family to lunch on his island, that you had appointments with him.” He urged Lutnick to “please disclose everything.”
Lutnick suggested there were no additional, unreported interactions to reveal.
“Under no circumstances is there a single word that I’ve done anything remotely wrong in any possible regard,” Lutnick said. “I did not have anything you could call a relationship, anything you could call an acquaintance.”
Lutnick is facing mounting calls from Democrats to resign, but most Republicans — save for Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) — have rebuffed such suggestions.
“It’s absurd. Howard Lutnick is a great commerce secretary. He’s done an extraordinary job for the country, and Thomas Massie should stop playing political games,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said. “I know Howard as an individual, and I trust his word on it.”
MASSIE CALLS FOR LUTNICK’S RESIGNATION AFTER FILES SHOW DEALINGS WITH EPSTEIN POST-CONVICTION
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) offered a more neutral position.
“Transparency is something we all ought to aspire to here, and if there are folks who are named in there or discussed in there in some way, they’re going to have to answer for that,” Thune said.
Rachel Schilke and David Sivak contributed to this report.