Howard Lutnick, the US commerce secretary, will sit for a closed-door interview with House lawmakers this week to address questions about his past relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, marking an escalation in scrutiny over the Trump administration official's ties to the disgraced financier.
The transcribed session before the House Oversight and Reform Committee comes after a massive document release by the Justice Department revealed correspondence between Lutnick and Epstein that continued well after the financier's 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor. A commerce department spokesperson said Lutnick "looks forward to addressing any questions on the record" and will work to dispel what it called "inaccurate and baseless claims in the media."
The timing matters. Lutnick agreed to the interview in March, shortly after the Justice Department unsealed millions of pages tied to Epstein. The released records directly contradicted a public statement Lutnick made last year on a podcast, in which he claimed he and his wife severed ties with Epstein in 2005 after an uncomfortable visit to the financier's Manhattan home.
But the newly released documents tell a different story. Lutnick's name appeared in Epstein's schedule for May 1, 2011, with a notation of an appointment. More significantly, records showed Lutnick traveled to Epstein's private Caribbean island in 2012, bringing his wife, four children, and nannies for what he described as a lunch outing during a February Senate hearing.
"I had another couple with me, they were there as well, with their children," Lutnick testified. "And we had lunch on the island, that is true, for an hour."
When pressed by senators about the nature of his relationship with Epstein, Lutnick minimized the connection. "I did not have any relationship with him. I barely had anything to do with that person," he said.
The shifting accounts have drawn attention from Capitol Hill. Republican Thomas Massie, who authored legislation forcing the Epstein file release, said Lutnick has "a lot to answer for" and called on him to resign. The White House has backed Lutnick, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt telling reporters in February that the president "fully supports" him and considers him "a very important member" of the administration.
The commerce department has characterized the controversy as a media distraction, releasing a statement that Lutnick and his wife "met Jeffrey Epstein in 2005 and had very limited interactions with him over the next 14 years." The same statement touted the administration's work on securing investment and trade deals.
Lutnick has not been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein. The interview will be conducted in private, with a transcript released later, following the same format the committee has used for previous closed-door sessions.
Author James Rodriguez: "Lutnick's shifting explanations and the documented evidence of continued contact create real credibility problems that Wednesday's hearing won't easily resolve."
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