Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Wednesday became the first Cabinet secretary in the second Trump administration to sit for a transcribed interview with the House Oversight Committee as part of its investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Lutnick, who was once Epstein’s Manhattan neighbor, had faced growing bipartisan pressure to provide sworn testimony to Congress after his name appeared in more than 250 documents released by the Justice Department related to its investigation into the deceased financier. Epstein was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges in 2019 and died in federal custody later that year. His death was ruled a suicide. Judges and lawmakers say that over decades, he abused, trafficked and molested scores of girls, many of whom have come forward in court and in other public forums.
The administration has been the target of rare dissent from President Donald Trump’s political base over what has been scrutinized as a lack of transparency about the federal government’s investigation into Epstein. Trump personally whipped House votes against the release of additional investigation files into Epstein, though he eventually signed into law the bill releasing the files.
The House Oversight Committee is investigating the federal government’s handling of the criminal cases against Epstein, including the Justice Department’s release of investigative documents. The handling of those documents was one of the reasons Trump fired Attorney General Pam Bondi, and the investigatory material released to the public personally referenced Trump, along with several members of his administration, including Lutnick. Neither Trump nor Lutnick has been accused of participating in Epstein’s criminal conduct.
Documents released by the Justice Department earlier this year showed that Lutnick maintained contact with Epstein after he pleaded guilty to two charges of soliciting prostitution, including one involving a minor, and was sentenced to 13 months in jail. Testifying before Congress in February, Lutnick also said he and his family had lunch with Epstein on the financier’s Caribbean island in 2012 — contradicting his previous claim that he and his wife had distanced themselves from Epstein around 2005.
Lutnick’s testimony Wednesday on Capitol Hill was not open to the public or media. Afterward, members of both parties offered competing views of the secretary’s testimony.
Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-Virginia), a House Oversight Committee member, said Lutnick could not remember why he went to Epstein’s home on an island in the Caribbean in 2012, which Subramanyam called “mind-boggling.”
A Commerce Department spokesperson said in a statement that the secretary “answered nearly 400 questions from members and staff, ending only when members said they had nothing more to ask. He explained repeatedly that three encounters [with Epstein] do not constitute a relationship. The committee adjourned without identifying any evidence to the contrary.”
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-California), who alongside Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) pushed the legislation that required the release of more Epstein files, told The Washington Post that Democrats had to ask Lutnick repeatedly why he visited Epstein’s island in 2012. Khanna alleged that Lutnick did not properly respond to questions about why he claimed to have cut ties with Epstein seven years before that visit, but did not elaborate on Lutnick’s response or explanation.
Subramanyam also questioned why Lutnick’s interview was not being taped.
“It’s outrageous that we’re not putting these on camera,” he said.
Earlier Wednesday, Comer expressed concerns that Lutnick previously may not have been “100% truthful” about his time with Epstein. But midway through Wednesday’s interview, Comer said Lutnick had “corrected his statement on the time that he came to the island.”
“We’re really, sincerely trying to get the truth,” Comer said. “Our goal is to provide justice for the victims, and hopefully, today will be helpful.”
The committee, which has a Republican majority, has pursued interviews with several high-profile individuals mentioned in the millions of files related to the federal government’s investigation into Epstein, and in some cases, the panel has compelled current and former top government officials to testify through subpoenas.
Bondi, who was subpoenaed to testify before the committee and faced a threat of contempt, agreed to speak to the panel for a transcribed interview about the Justice Department’s handling of its release of files related to Epstein on May 29.
Along with current and former government officials, the committee has interviewed a wide range of people in Epstein’s orbit, including his friends and the co-executors of his estate. The panel is also pursuing interviews with individuals who may have pertinent information for its investigation, including the prison guard who was on duty when Epstein died in his New York prison cell.
Bill and Hillary Clinton, in March, were subpoenaed by the committee and testifiedin closed-door, taped depositions that were subsequently made public. During his lengthy deposition, the former president sought to distance himself from Epstein, saying he had no knowledge of Epstein’s crimes and stopped associating with him years before Epstein’s first guilty plea in 2008. The former secretary of state, meanwhile, said she had no recollection of ever meeting Epstein and had known Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell only “casually, as an acquaintance.”
The committee is also set to interview billionaire Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on June 10.
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