Trump’s Commerce Secretary admits he lied about when he last saw Jeffrey Epstein, and where they met

President Trump’s Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, confirmed this week that he visited Jeffrey Epstein’s private island in 2012. This directly contradicts his earlier testimony, where he said he had stopped all contact with the convicted sex offender years before this visit happened.

According to the BBC, Lutnick testified on Capitol Hill and admitted, “I did have lunch with him as I was on a boat going across on a family vacation.” He was not alone during this visit. His wife, their four children, and nannies were all there for the hour-long lunch on December 23, 2012.

This island trip took place four years after Epstein was convicted for soliciting prostitution from a child. Lutnick had previously told Congress he cut ties with Epstein back in 2005. He said he ended the relationship after Epstein, who was his New York neighbor, used inappropriate sexual language while explaining why he owned a massage table in his home.

The timeline doesn’t match what Lutnick originally told Congress

Documents released by the Justice Department prove the 2012 trip happened. These include an email from Lutnick’s wife Allison to Epstein’s assistant saying, “We are looking forward to visiting you,” and, “We would love to join you for lunch.”

When faced with this conflicting information, Lutnick tried to downplay the relationship. He said he only remembered meeting Epstein two other times over the next 14 years, including another hour-long meeting about a year and a half after the island visit. He claims, “Over a 14-year period, I did not have any relationship with him, I barely had anything to do with that person.”

Lutnick pointed out that among the millions of pages of Epstein documents released, only about 10 emails connect him to the financier. However, this explanation has created serious backlash. Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen questioned Lutnick hard during the testimony about the conflicting stories. Epstein’s former associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, recently made headlines with her conditional offer to reveal information about the case.

The Senator stated, “The issue is not that you engaged in any wrongdoing in connection with Jeffrey Epstein, but that you totally misrepresented the extent of your relationship with him, to the Congress, to the American people and to the survivors of his despicable criminal and predatory acts.” Both Democrats and Republicans, including Congressman Ro Khanna and Congressman Thomas Massie, have called for Lutnick to resign.

Despite pressure from both parties, the White House confirmed that Lutnick has the president’s full support. Lutnick is known as the architect of President Trump’s global tariffs policy. The controversy comes as Trump’s recent partisan actions disrupted the annual governors’ meeting in Washington. 

Meanwhile, survivors of Epstein’s abuse gathered on Capitol Hill to announce new legislation called Virginia’s Law, named for Virginia Giuffre, a well-known survivor who died by suicide in 2025. The law aims to remove the time limit for survivors of sexual abuse to file civil claims.