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By Gabe Whisnant
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Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick acknowledged Tuesday that he met with Jeffrey Epstein twice after the disgraced financier’s 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor, contradicting his previous public claims that he cut off contact with Epstein years earlier.
Lutnick made the admission while testifying before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee, where Democratic lawmakers pressed him on newly released documents related to Epstein. He sought to minimize the extent of his relationship with Epstein, a former neighbor in New York City, describing their interactions as limited and infrequent.
“I did not have any relationship with him. I barely had anything to do with him,” Lutnick told lawmakers, adding that their contact consisted of a handful of emails and two meetings that occurred years apart.
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However, the testimony directly conflicted with Lutnick’s statements on a podcast last year when he said he decided to “never be in the room” with Epstein again after a 2005 visit to Epstein’s home that he said disturbed him and his wife. Those earlier claims have come under scrutiny following the release of so-called Epstein files, which include emails and travel records that suggest continued contact.
Pressed by lawmakers, Lutnick acknowledged that he and his family had lunch with Epstein on his private island in 2012 and that he had an additional hourlong meeting at Epstein’s home in 2011—both years after Epstein’s conviction.
“I did have lunch with him, as I was on a boat going across on a family vacation” in 2012, Lutnick said Tuesday. “My wife was with me, as were my four children and nannies,” he said. “I had another couple with—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.”
Lutnick Faces Calls To Step Down
Lutnick is facing bipartisan calls to resign, making him the highest-ranking U.S. official to face such pressure in connection with the Epstein revelations.
The controversy has reignited debate in Washington over accountability for powerful figures whose names appear in the newly released files. In other countries, including the United Kingdom, disclosures related to Epstein have led to resignations and the removal of royal privileges. In the United States, no senior officials have stepped down solely over their associations with Epstein.
Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat who questioned Lutnick during the hearing, emphasized that the issue was not criminal conduct but credibility.
“There’s not an indication that you yourself engaged in any wrongdoing with Jeffrey Epstein,” Van Hollen said. “It’s the fact that we believe that you misled the country and the Congress based on your earlier statements.”
Calls for Lutnick to resign have also come from House lawmakers involved in the effort to force the release of the Epstein files. Representative Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, publicly urged Lutnick to step down over the weekend after emails referencing the meetings were released.
Representative Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, echoed that call Monday.
“Based on the evidence, he should be out of the Cabinet,” Khanna said, adding that the issue goes beyond any single individual. “Are we going to allow the rich and powerful people who had no problem doing business and associating with a pedophile who raped underage girls to simply skate?”
Trump Stands By Lutnick
President Donald Trump fully supports Lutnick despite renewed scrutiny of his past ties to Epstein, the White House said Tuesday.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Lutnick “remains a very important member of President Trump’s team, and the president fully supports the secretary,” when asked about calls for his resignation.
In the same press conference, Leavitt responded to a question regarding a reported Trump call about Epstein with the police chief in Palm Beach, Florida.
Leavitt said the call is something that “may or may not have happened in 2006.”
Who Is Howard Lutnick?
Lutnick is a billionaire financier and longtime Wall Street executive who serves as U.S. commerce secretary in Trump’s Cabinet. He is best known as the longtime chief executive of Cantor Fitzgerald, the financial services firm he helped rebuild after losing hundreds of employees in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Lutnick has been a prominent political donor and business figure for decades, with close ties to Republican leaders and the financial sector.
Is Howard Lutnick In The Epstein Files?
Lutnick’s name appears in documents released as part of the Epstein files, a collection of court-ordered records that include emails, calendars and other materials tied to Jeffrey Epstein and his associates. The files do not accuse Lutnick of criminal wrongdoing, but they have raised questions about his past statements after records showed contact with Epstein following the latter’s 2008 conviction. Lawmakers have focused on whether Lutnick accurately disclosed the timing and extent of those interactions rather than alleging any illegal conduct.
This article includes reporting by the Associated Press.
Update 2/10/26, 3:10 p.m. ET: This article was updated with new information and remarks.
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