President Donald Trump on Friday said Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick would comply with a subpoena after Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) said Democrats have enough support to force the secretary to testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee about his reported connections to late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Speaking to reporters before heading to Texas, Trump was asked about Khanna’s remarks.
“Howard would go in and do whatever he had to say. He’s a very innocent guy,” the president said.
During a news conference earlier in the day, Khanna said lawmakers are preparing to pursue a subpoena compelling Lutnick’s appearance as part of the committee’s expanding inquiry into individuals connected to Epstein.
“I believe we will have the votes to subpoena him, and we will work with ranking member [Robert Garcia (D-CA)] to make sure that he comes before our committee,” Khanna said.
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) has also called for Lutnick to testify, enforcing Khanna’s belief there will be sufficient votes to compel the commerce secretary to testify.
According to the recently disclosed Epstein Files, Lutnick communicated in Epstein’s circle and even visited his private island years after Epstein’s 2008 conviction.
Lutnick had previously stated he cut ties with Epstein in 2005. A 2016 email to Epstein from Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, which appeared to contain an invitation to a Valentine’s Day party, was also revealed in the files.
Khanna’s comments come as former President Bill Clinton testifies before the committee about his relationship with Epstein, as the former president appears in images from the Epstein files.
During his remarks, Khanna argued that Congress has established a new expectation that high-profile political figures and officials comply with congressional subpoenas, citing Bill Clinton and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who testified over the past two days.
“Before this, we had the Trump rule,” Khanna said, referring to Trump’s failure to cooperate with a subpoena issued by the House Jan. 6 committee, though it was later withdrawn. “Now we have the Clinton rule, which is that presidents and their families have to testify when Congress issues a subpoena.”
BILL CLINTON DENIES KNOWLEDGE OF EPSTEIN’S CRIMES: ‘I SAW NOTHING’
Khanna said that because of the scenario with Bill Clinton, Trump will need to testify before the committee and “explain what he knew about Epstein and why we have not had a full release of the documents.”
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) spoke outside of Bill Clinton’s testimony and said two women have made allegations against Trump and Bill Clinton, but they were determined to be false.