Howard Lutnick Gives Details On His Time Spent With Jeffrey Epstein

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick confirmed on Tuesday that he traveled to late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein’s private island in 2012 for lunch as part of a family vacation.

“I did not have a relationship with him. I barely had anything to do with that person,” Lutnick told senators at a hearing on broadband infrastructure.

Asked by Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) if he saw anything inappropriate during his time with the deceased financier, Lutnick said, “The only thing I saw…was staff who worked for Mr. Epstein on that island.”

Lutnick, a billionaire businessman, is facing bipartisan calls to resign from the Trump administration after emails released by the Department of Justice showed he had ties to Epstein even after he was convicted in 2008 on charges of trafficking minors.

“Really, he should make life easier on the president, frankly, and just resign,” Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) told CNN.

After meeting with Epstein in 2005, Lutnick said he vowed to “never be in a room with that disgusting person ever again.” And he told The New York Post last year that after leaving his former neighbor’s house at the time, “my wife and I decided that I will never be in the room with that disgusting person ever again.”

But Lutnick had discussed traveling to Epstein’s island in 2012 emails, according to some of the newly released documents. And his wife was with him when he eventually made the trip, according to Lutnick’s latest testimony.

“My wife was with me, as were my four children, and nannies,” Lutnick said Tuesday. “I had another couple, they were there as well, their children, and we had lunch on the island.”

Van Hollen told Lutnick on Tuesday that he “totally misrepresented” the extent of his relationship with Epstein.

“The information recently revealed shows that you had interactions with Epstein over 13 years, including long after he was convicted of soliciting the prostitution of a minor,” Van Hollen added. “That does call into question your credibility and fitness for the job.”