Washington — Commerce Secretary howard Lutnick, in Interview with representatives of the House of Representatives, She retracted an earlier allegation that convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein blackmailed people.
Lutnick agreed to an interview with the House Oversight Committee last week after the Epstein case files were made public. His claim contradicts In a podcast last year, he said he was determined to “never be in a room again” with Epstein after a 2005 tour of Epstein’s home that upset Lutnick and his wife.
The House Oversight Committee released the transcript of the interview on Wednesday, as well as a transcript of an interview with Ted Witt, a former friend of Ghislaine Maxwell, a close associate of Epstein.
Lutnick, who for years was Epstein’s neighbors in New York City, claimed in that podcast interview that Epstein engaged in an extortion racket. But under scrutiny from lawmakers, Lutnick said it was just “speculation.”
“I didn’t have any personal information. I was just expecting a podcast,” Lutnick told lawmakers, adding that his other personal interactions with Epstein years later were “meaningless and insignificant.”
Moreover, Lutnick is the highest-ranking official in the current administration President Donald Trumpso that his name would be mentioned in the Epstein case files. The Republican president has consistently denied any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes and said he ended their relationship years ago.
Lutnick has repeatedly downplayed his past interactions with Epstein. He said that after Epstein who He died in a New York prison cell In 2019, while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, he offered a massage table and made sexual innuendos during a tour of his home in 2005, Lutnick and his wife decided he would “just avoid him.”
However, Lutnick, who was previously president of brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald, had a pair of interactions and exchanged numerous emails with Epstein over the years.
They also both invested in the same business venture in 2013, according to Epstein’s case filings. Lutnick told lawmakers he was not aware that Epstein was also an investor until the case files were made public months ago.
The Commerce Secretary also described his other meetings with Epstein. During a family vacation in the Caribbean, Epstein’s employees invited them to lunch on his private island. Describing the 2012 visit, he told the committee: “We sat outside, had lunch. It was boring. We left.”
Lutnick also said he made a brief visit to Epstein’s home in 2011 to discuss scaffolding to be installed at Epstein’s home. Lutnick described that meeting as “meaningless and unimportant.”
Democrats pressed Lutnick to respond to his decision to meet Epstein after initially deciding he would avoid him. Lutnick responded that he couldn’t remember why his family made the visit to Epstein’s island.
When they emerged from the interview last week, Democrats blasted Lutnick as evasive and dishonest. Many called on him to resign.
“If a Cabinet secretary lies to the American public, he should no longer serve in that position. Mr. Lutnick should resign or be fired,” Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said on social media shortly after Lutnick’s interview.
The White House has stood behind Lutnick, who for years has been part of Trump’s circle.
Lawmakers last month also interviewed White, the co-founder of Gateway Computers who dated Maxwell in the early 2000s. Maxwell, who is serving a long prison sentence for aiding Epstein’s trafficking of girls, also dated Epstein and was a longtime confidant.
White told lawmakers he was not aware at the time that Epstein or Maxwell were committing sexual assault. He also described meeting Epstein only a few times.
“All of those messages were very brief and unintentional,” he said, adding that he never visited Epstein’s home, traveled on his planes, or visited his private island.
White said he found Epstein “rather arrogant” and added that he was “off-putting.”