'Met Epstein with his wife and kids': Trump Commerce Sec Lutnick admits visiting Epstein island during family vacation

Amid the disclosure of Epstein files that have reignited scrutiny of the powerful figures linked with the late businessman, Trump administration Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Tuesday admitted visiting the convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein’s private island for lunch once with his family.

Lutnick, however, insisted he “barely had anything to do with that person.” The admission came following the bipartisan calls for Lutnick to step down after newly released Justice Department files that suggested he had business and personal ties with the late financier.

Lutnick, while testifying before the Senate Appropriations Committee’s subcommittee on commerce, justice, science, and related agencies, stated that he visited the place in 2012 during a family vacation. He said, “I did have lunch with him, as I was on a boat going across on a family vacation,” according to the CNBC report.  “My wife was with me, as were my four children and nannies. I had another couple with — they were there as well, with their children,” he added. Lutnick further explained that he had lunch on the island for an hour but had left with all his children, nannies and his wife soon after, clarifying he was on a family holiday. “And we had lunch on the island, that is true, for an hour,” he said in his testimony. However, the latest released documents were more extensive than previously disclosed.

Until now, Lutnick maintained that he had cut off his ties with Epstein after 2005, years before he pleaded guilty in 2008 to a state-level charge of soliciting a minor for prostitution, which registered him as a sex offender. However, the newly released files indicated that Lutnick and Epstein remained in contact years later. According to the documents, in December 2012, the notorious sex offender invited the Commerce Secretary to lunch on his private island in the US Virgin Islands. According to international media reports, the two had business dealings even in 2014, years after Epstein was found guilty. However, during his hearing on Tuesday, Lutnick sought to minimise the extent of his interaction with Epstein. He testified, “I’m glad to be here to make it clear that I met Jeffrey Epstein when he moved, when I moved to a house next door to him in New York.”

He further explained that over the next 14 years, he met Epstein “two other times that I can recall, two times.” Lutnick said, “So six years later, I met him, and then a year and a half after that, I met him, and never again. Probably the total — and you’ve seen all of these documents, of these millions and millions of documents — there may be 10 emails connecting me with him. ... Over a 14-year period. I did not have any relationship with him.” Senator Chris Van Hollen, the subcommittee’s ranking member, told Lutnick, “There’s not an indication that you yourself engaged in any wrongdoing with Jeffrey Epstein. It’s the fact that you ... misled the country and the Congress based on your earlier statements suggesting that you cut off all contact, when, in fact, you had not.”

When Senator asked him if he had witnessed anything inappropriate on the convicted child sex offender’s Island, Lutnick denied. He said, “The only thing I saw with my wife and my children and the other couple and their children was staff who worked for Mr. Epstein on that island.” Hollen further questioned whether he would share his own records related to Epstein to ensure that the file is complete. Lutnick replied, “I will surely talk about that. I hadn't thought about that. I have nothing to hide. Absolutely nothing.”

The White House, however, has expressed confidence in the Commerce Secretary following the demand for his resignation from several lawmakers including Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky. After his testimony, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Donald Trump continues to stand behind his Commerce chief. 

Epstein was an American financier and a convicted child sex offender, who was accused of  serial sex trafficking of women and girls. In 2019, he died by suicide by hanging himself in jail while facing federal sex trafficking charges. He was a multimillionaire and was linked to various extremely wealthy individuals, prominent politicians, and even royalty. Following his death, Epstein and all the documents related to his wrongdoings became a polarising subject for both sides of the political aisle. Now, during Trump’s second administration period, the demand to release the files has become a national conversation in America. The US government has released thousands of documents, which only deepened the controversy around Epstein and his connections to powerful figures.