In brief
In a testimony, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick acknowledged visiting Jeffrey Epstein's island in 2012, which counters his earlier claims of severed ties with Epstein. This revelation, arising from recently unsealed documents, has led to increasing demands for Lutnick's resignation, although he maintains he has not been involved in any wrongdoing related to Epstein.
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has confirmed he visited Jeffrey Epstein's island in 2012, contradicting previous claims that he had cut ties with the sex offender years earlier, before he was convicted. I did have lunch with him as I was on a boat going across on a family vacation, Lutnick testified on Capitol Hill on Tuesday. My wife was with me, as were my four children and nannies … We had lunch on the island. That is true. For an hour. Correspondence about the visit was included in Epstein documents released by the US Department of Justice. Some lawmakers have called on Lutnick to resign, but on Tuesday the White House said he had the full support of President Donald Trump.The commerce secretary had previously told Congress that he cut ties with Epstein in 2005 after the late financier - a neighbor of Lutnick's in New York - used sexual innuendo to explain why he owned a massage table in a room of his home. In Tuesday's testimony, he said: Over the next 14 years, I met him two other times that I can recall.The justice department files show Lutnick visited Epstein's Caribbean island on 23 December 2012, four years after Epstein was convicted for soliciting prostitution from a child. Lutnick's testimony marked the first time he publicly confirmed the visit. I don't recall why we did it, but we did it, he said Tuesday, referring to the lunch. Lutnick has not been accused of any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein. The other time he met Epstein was a year and a half after the island visit.Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat from Maryland, criticized Lutnick for his conflicting accounts, emphasizing that the issue was not about wrongdoing, but rather misrepresentation. Lutnick is among several high-profile people named in the more than 3.5 million documents released by the justice department. The revelation about his visit has led to bipartisan calls for his resignation from the Trump administration.
