US Commerce Chief Admits Epstein Island Lunch but Denies Closer Ties

WASHINGTON: Facing growing calls for his resignation, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick admitted Tuesday to having lunch on Jeffrey Epstein's private island in 2012, but strenuously denied any closer relationship with the convicted sex offender.

Lutnick's ties to Epstein have come under intense scrutiny after email exchanges included in newly released files undermined his earlier insistence that he had cut all links with the late financier back in 2005.

So far, President Donald Trump's administration has stood by Lutnick, with White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt saying the president "fully supports" him.

She added that he "remains a very important member" of Trump's team.

Epstein, a convicted sex offender who had ties to top business executives, politicians, celebrities and academics, was found dead in his New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking minor girls.

In a podcast last year, Lutnick recounted moving in next door to Epstein in 2005 and receiving a house tour that left him disturbed. He and his wife decided that he would "never be in the room with that disgusting person, ever again."

"So I was never in the room with him socially, for business or even philanthropy," he said.

But records have emerged showing Lutnick's plans in 2012 to meet Epstein for lunch in Little Saint James, notoriously known as "Epstein Island."

"We had lunch on the island, that is true, for an hour," Lutnick told a Senate committee hearing.

But he stressed that he was with his wife, children and nannies.

"We were on family vacation," he said.

Asked if he saw anything untoward, Lutnick maintained that besides his family and that of another couple who were present, he only saw staff who worked for Epstein on the island.

High-profile people have come under scrutiny for visits to Little Saint James, the private redoubt in the US Virgin Islands where prosecutors alleged Epstein trafficked underage girls for sex.

- No 'relationship' -

Lutnick stressed to the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday: "Over a 14-year period, I did not have any relationship with him. I barely had anything to do with that person."

The billionaire was referring to the period starting in 2005 when he moved to a New York home where Epstein was his neighbor. He said that he met Epstein when they were both in New York.

He has come under fire from US lawmakers, however.

Democratic Senator Adam Schiff said Monday that "Lutnick has no business being our Commerce Secretary, and he should resign immediately."

He added that Lutnick's earlier denial of dealings with Epstein raises "serious concerns about his judgment and ethics."

On Sunday, Republican lawmaker Thomas Massie also told CNN the commerce secretary "should just resign," citing similar resignations in Great Britain.

And Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee, charged in a social media post that Lutnick "has been lying about his relationship with Epstein."

"He said he had no interactions with Epstein after 2005, yet we now know they were in business together," Garcia said.

Released documents indicated the men had become investors in a firm some time after the island visit, although it is unclear if they personally engaged over the deal. They also appear to have communicated through assistants on other occasions.

Lutnick denied Tuesday that he had dinner in Epstein's New York City home in 2011, although he acknowledged that the documents indicated a planned meeting with Epstein in May that year.

The commerce chief was also questioned about documents that suggested Epstein had an interest in meeting his nanny, but said this "had nothing to do with me."

"I have nothing to hide, absolutely nothing," Lutnick said.

Lutnick -- a close ally of Trump's -- served as chief executive of financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald before becoming US commerce secretary last year.