Lutnick's testimony in Epstein probe earns harsh criticism from House Democrats
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick testified before the House Oversight Committee behind closed doors on Wednesday, where he faced questions about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and his evolving statements about their history.
Democrats on the committee accused Lutnick of being evasive and misleading the public, calling on him to resign over his changing accounts of his interactions with the late sex offender.
"If you saw the exchanges that my colleagues had with him, you would see he made a farce of the English language," said California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, who accused Lutnick of "changing his story" as new facts have emerged.
But GOP Rep. James Comer, the Oversight Committee's chairman, said Democrats were twisting Lutnick's words and had come into the interview to push a "narrative" to damage President Trump.
"It's never about holding people accountable that should have prosecuted Epstein years ago. It's always about Donald Trump," Comer told reporters.
Lutnick voluntarily sat for a closed-door transcribed interview, the latest in a procession of powerful people summoned before the committee, many of whom have been subjected to embarrassing revelations in the more than 3 million pages of records known as the Epstein files. The files showed Epstein and Lutnick were in business together as recently as 2014, each investing in a now-defunct advertising company called Adfin.
The files also revealed that in 2012, Lutnick, his wife, Allison, and their children visited Little St. James, the private Caribbean island Epstein owned. Epstein and Lutnick were among a group of men seen in an undated photo from the files that appears to have been taken on Epstein's island.
Before those revelations, Lutnick, the former chairman of the financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald, had maintained he cut off contact with Epstein in 2005, three years before the financier entered a guilty plea to state prostitution charges in Florida. The men lived next door to each other in New York City for years and exchanged emails as late as 2018 — the year before Epstein's death in jail — about Adfin and a planned museum expansion near their homes.
Lutnick tried to clean up his account of their relationship during his testimony on Wednesday.
The secretary told the committee he purchased the property next to Epstein's home in 1997, but didn't move in until after renovations were complete in 2005, according to a person familiar with what he told lawmakers. Lutnick said they had neither a personal nor professional relationship during the 14 years they were neighbors. He said he never saw Epstein with any young women or witnessed anything inappropriate.
Lutnick said he met Epstein three times, the person familiar with his testimony said. During the first meeting, Lutnick said he and his wife had coffee and a tour of Epstein's home, during which he noticed a massage table. Lutnick decided then, he told lawmakers, that he didn't want a relationship with Epstein.
The secretary said he was later in the U.S. Virgin Islands with family when they were invited to Epstein's home for lunch. He said he did not know how Epstein's assistant knew he was in the islands, and found that to be unsettling. He described one other meeting in which they discussed scaffolding in Epstein's foyer.
Midway through Wednesday's session, Democrats on the committee questioned the veracity of Lutnick's recollections. Rep. Suhas Subramanyam called on Lutnick to resign, describing him as "evasive, nervous" and "dishonest."
"He somehow remembers going to the island after pictures surfaced of him being at the island, but he doesn't remember why he went to the island," the Virginia Democrat said.
Rep. James Walkinshaw, also of Virginia, said Lutnick was asked if he discussed his testimony with the president and "refused to answer that question." He noted that the interview was not being recorded on camera.
"He's lying, and today's transcribed interview is part of the ongoing cover-up, because the American people deserve to see the video of what's taking place in there," he said. "They deserve to see the sweat on the secretary's brow as he struggles to answer basic questions about his lies to the American people."
Khanna said: "If Donald Trump had seen the video transcript, he would have fired Howard Lutnick. It was really embarrassing."
Comer came to Lutnick's defense. He said the secretary had been "very transparent," noting he was appearing voluntarily and had corrected prior public statements about his family's visit to Epstein's island in his opening remarks.
"If we find that there were any misstatements by Mr. Lutnick, it's a felony to lie to Congress, and he'll be held accountable," Comer said.
The chairman argued that videotaped depositions are uncommon and accused Democrats of wanting to use video clips for political purposes. He said the committee's focus is to "get the truth to the American people."
Lutnick's testimony comes a week after the committee announced that former Attorney General Pam Bondi has agreed to testify before the panel later this month. She was originally scheduled to appear April 14, but the Justice Department canceled her deposition after she was ousted from her post.
Others who have appeared include the executors of Epstein's estate, as well as former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and billionaire businessman Les Wexner.