The U.S. Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, is set to appear before the House Oversight and Reform Committee to face a series of questions regarding his past associations with Jeffrey Epstein, The Guardian reported. This session, which will take place behind closed doors, marks a significant development in the committee’s ongoing investigation into the late, disgraced financier. Lawmakers are moving to get clarity on the nature of the relationship, especially after recent document releases from the Justice Department raised new questions about the timeline of their interactions.
The committee is expected to focus on why Lutnick maintained contact with Epstein well after the 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor. While Lutnick previously claimed that he and his wife decided to cut all ties with Epstein back in 2005, the newly released files tell a different story. These records include evidence of continued correspondence and a scheduled appointment between the two as recently as May 1, 2011.
During a Senate hearing in February, Lutnick acknowledged that he and his family visited Epstein’s private island in 2012 for a lunch. He described the trip during his testimony, stating, “My wife was with me, as were my four children and nannies.” He further explained the visit, noting, “I had another couple with – they were there as well, with their children.” When pressed on the duration of the visit, Lutnick added, “And we had lunch on the island, that is true, for an hour.”
These details stand in stark contrast to earlier statements Lutnick made on a podcast last year
In that recording, he recounted a 2005 visit to Epstein’s Manhattan home, claiming that he and his wife felt uncomfortable after Epstein made weird comments about a massage table. Lutnick told listeners that he and his wife decided then and there that he would never be in a room with that person again. He even went as far as to say, “So I was never in the room with him socially, for business, or even philanthropy. If that guy was there, I wasn’t going, ’cause he’s gross.”
James Comer, the Republican representative who chairs the oversight committee, spoke with reporters on Wednesday morning before the interview. When asked if the questions would center on the island visit and the continued communications after the 2008 conviction, Comer confirmed that those were exactly the topics the committee intended to cover.
He noted that these are the questions everyone would ask and expressed hope that the voluntary testimony would provide some real answers. Comer also mentioned that the committee has not spoken to many people who have admitted to being on the island, making this a unique opportunity to gather facts directly.
Despite the mounting pressure, the administration has remained firm in its support of the commerce secretary. Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, previously stated that Lutnick remains an important member of the team and that he has the full support of the president.
A spokesperson for the Commerce Department has also defended Lutnick, characterizing the scrutiny as a distraction from the department’s actual work. The spokesperson claimed that the focus on these past ties is merely an attempt by the media to take attention away from the administration’s successes, such as securing significant investments and trade deals.
The reaction from other lawmakers has been much harsher. Some members of Congress, including Thomas Massie, a Republican who co-authored the law that led to the release of the Epstein files, have explicitly called for Lutnick to resign. Massie has been vocal about his position, suggesting that Lutnick has a lot to answer for and that stepping down would be the right move to make life easier for the president. Similar calls have come from a bipartisan group of legislators, including Robert Garcia, Ro Khanna, Ted Lieu, Melanie Stansbury, and Senator Adam Schiff.
Lutnick, who has not been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein, maintains that he barely had anything to do with the financier. He has characterized his interactions over the years as very limited. As the committee proceeds with this closed-door interview, the plan is to release a transcript of the session at a later date, consistent with how the committee has handled previous transcribed interviews in this investigation.
For now, the public and the committee members wait to see if this testimony will finally reconcile the conflicting accounts of his relationship with Epstein.
Published: May 6, 2026 04:30 pm