WASHINGTON (AP) — Under questioning from Democrats on Tuesday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick acknowledged that he had met with Jeffrey Epstein twice after his 2008 conviction for encouraging prostitution of a child, reversing Lutnick’s earlier claim that he had cut ties with the financier after late 2005.
Lutnick once again played down his relationship with the disgraced financier who was once his New York City neighbor as he was questioned by Democrats during a Senate Appropriations Committee subcommittee hearing. He described their contact as a handful of emails and a pair of meetings that were years apart.
“I had no relationship with him. I barely had anything to do with him,” Lutnick told lawmakers.
But Lutnick is facing calls from several lawmakers for his resignation after the release of case files about Epstein contradicted Lutnick’s claims on a podcast last year that he had decided to “never be in the room” with Epstein again after a 2005 tour of Epstein’s home that disturbed Lutnick and his wife.
The commerce secretary said Tuesday that he and his family actually dined with Epstein on his private island in 2012 and had another hour-long engagement at Epstein’s home in 2011. Lutnick, a member of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet, is the highest-ranking US official to face bipartisan calls for his resignation amid his Epstein revelations. His recognition comes as lawmakers are figuring out what accountability looks like amid the revelations contained in what is known as the Epstein files.
In countries like the United Kingdom, the Epstein files have led to resignations and the removal of royal privileges, but so far, American officials have not met the same level of retribution.
Senator Chris Van Hollen, the Democrat who questioned Lutnick, told him, “There is no indication that you yourself engaged in any wrongdoing with Jeffrey Epstein. It is the fact that you believe you have misled the country and Congress based on your previous statements.”
Meanwhile, the House members who started the legislative effort to force the release of the files are calling for Lutnick to resign. Republican Thomas Massie of Kentucky called for this over the weekend after emails were released alluding to meetings between Lutnick and Epstein.
Representative Ro Khanna, Democrat of California, joined Massie in pressuring Lutnick out of office on Monday.
“Based on the evidence, he should be out of the Cabinet,” Khanna said.
He added, “It’s not about any particular person. In this country, we have to make a decision. Are we going to let rich and powerful people who are friends and (had) no problem doing business and show up with a pedophile who is raping underage girls, are we going to let them just skate?”