Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick retreated from earlier statements about Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged blackmail activities during questioning by House lawmakers last week.
The House Oversight Committee released interview transcripts on Wednesday showing Lutnick walking back claims he made on a podcast last year about the convicted sex offender. Lutnick had previously stated that Epstein engaged in blackmail, but told lawmakers he was merely guessing.
“I had no personal information. I was just speculating for a podcast,” Lutnick said during his testimony, describing his subsequent encounters with Epstein as “meaningless and inconsequential.”
The interview came after Epstein case files contradicted Lutnick’s podcast statements that he was determined to avoid Epstein following a disturbing 2005 visit to the financier’s residence with his wife.
Lutnick, who lived near Epstein in New York City for years, repeatedly minimized their relationship during questioning. He told lawmakers that after Epstein displayed a massage table and made sexual comments during the 2005 house tour, he and his wife decided to stay away from him.
However, records show Lutnick had additional contact with Epstein over the years, including email exchanges and two face-to-face meetings. The former head of Cantor Fitzgerald also unknowingly invested in the same business venture as Epstein in 2013, learning of Epstein’s involvement only when case files became public recently.
Lutnick described a 2012 Caribbean vacation where Epstein’s staff invited his family to lunch on the private island. “We sat outside, had lunch. It was boring. We left,” he told the committee.
He also acknowledged a brief 2011 visit to Epstein’s residence to discuss construction scaffolding, calling that meeting “meaningless and inconsequential.”
When Democrats questioned why he met with Epstein after deciding to avoid him, Lutnick said he couldn’t recall his family’s reasoning for the island visit.
Following the interview, Democratic lawmakers criticized Lutnick’s responses and called for his resignation. Rep. Robert Garcia, the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, posted on social media: “If a Cabinet Secretary lies to the American public, they should no longer serve in that position. Mr. Lutnick should resign or be fired.”
The White House has maintained support for Lutnick, who has been part of the Republican president’s inner circle for years. The president has consistently denied awareness of Epstein’s crimes and stated he severed ties with him years ago.
Lutnick represents the highest-ranking current administration official, aside from President Donald Trump, to appear in the Epstein case files. Epstein died in a New York jail in 2019 while facing sex trafficking charges.
The committee also released transcripts from an interview with Tedd Waitt, Gateway computers cofounder who dated Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell in the early 2000s. Maxwell is currently serving a prison sentence for her role in helping Epstein traffic girls.
Waitt told lawmakers he was unaware of any sexual abuse by either Epstein or Maxwell during their relationship. He described meeting Epstein only briefly on a few occasions, calling those encounters “very brief and unintentional.”
Waitt said he never went to Epstein’s home, used his aircraft, or visited his private island. He characterized Epstein as “somewhat arrogant” and “off-putting.”
