Howard Lutnick sat for hours behind closed doors before the House committee and tried to explain why his story about Jeffrey Epstein now barely aligns with the released documents and investigations. The United States secretary of commerce, one of the most visible men in Donald Trump’s cabinet, was questioned Wednesday by members of the House Oversight Committee about his contacts with the deceased sex offender. By the end, several Democrats left the room accusing Lutnick of lying, dodging questions and becoming entangled in contradictions.
See also our investigations: Investigation shows: US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick Lied - Six Years of Business With Epstein
Pressure on Lutnick had intensified steadily in recent months. According to an analysis, his name appears in more than 250 documents from the Epstein files released by the Justice Department. What made this especially explosive was not only the number of mentions, but the fact that multiple documents contradict Lutnick’s earlier statements.
For years, Lutnick publicly claimed he had no contact with Epstein after a meeting in 2005. In a podcast last year, he said that he and his wife had decided at the time never again to be in the same room with Epstein. During a tour through his home, Epstein had allegedly told sexual stories that disgusted them both. “My wife and I decided I would never again be in a room with that disgusting human being,” Lutnick said at the time.
The documents now released paint a different picture. Justice Department records show that in 2012 Lutnick visited Epstein’s private island, Little St. James, together with his family - four years after Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida to soliciting minors for prostitution. According to testimony in the committee, Lutnick did not travel alone. On board were his wife, his children, several nannies and another family. That trip became one of the central points of Wednesday’s hearing. Our investigations effectively contradict every statement made by Lutnick.
According to several participants in the session, Lutnick stated that he met Epstein only three times in total. Once for coffee and a house tour in New York after the two became neighbors on the Upper East Side. Another time on Epstein’s island. And a third time regarding a construction project at Epstein’s home that affected his own property.
But that explanation no longer convinced many lawmakers. Democratic Representative Yassamin Ansari said after the session that Lutnick repeatedly portrayed his contacts with Epstein as “meaningless and insignificant.” At the same time, however, he could not explain why he voluntarily visited Epstein’s island years after Epstein’s conviction - despite allegedly already being repulsed by him in 2005.
Ansari became especially sharp later in front of reporters. Based on everything she had seen in the hearing, she said she felt “very comfortable” describing Howard Lutnick as a “pathological liar” participating in “the worst cover-up in American history.” She described how Lutnick tried to claim he had practically known nothing about Epstein at the time. Ansari pushed back, saying even she as a child had seen reports about Epstein everywhere. How could an adult neighbor of Epstein, who had already interacted with him before, supposedly know nothing about it?
Democratic Representative Suhas Subramanyam also confronted Lutnick directly. He described him as “evasive, nervous and dishonest.” Especially absurd, he said, was the way Lutnick tried to reinterpret earlier statements. On one hand, he had claimed never again to have been “in a room” with Epstein. On the other hand, he now admitted himself that he had been with him on the island. Subramanyam later said sarcastically that at one point he had to ask Lutnick whether they were currently even in the same room, because his definition apparently had become completely arbitrary.
Subramanyam: “We kept asking Lutnick why he went to the island. He says he can’t remember …”
Several Democrats also criticized that the session was not recorded on video. A transcript is expected to be released, but cameras were not allowed. In a proceeding centered around credibility, body language and memory lapses, the public was therefore left only with a written record. Republican committee chairman James Comer defended the decision by arguing that Lutnick had testified voluntarily. Anyone appearing voluntarily, he said, did not necessarily have to be filmed.
For many Democrats, that was precisely part of the problem. Representative Ro Khanna declared after the session that now everyone knew why the interview had not been recorded. If Donald Trump had seen the footage, he probably would have fired Howard Lutnick immediately. Yassamin Ansari also openly described the situation as “unbelievable” without video.
Rep. Khanna: “Now we know why that interview with Lutnick was not videotaped. It was really embarrassing. Everyone knows that he brought his wife and kids to Epstein in 2012, and yet the whole thing was just contortions, evasions and lies - without any admission at all that he misled the public.”
Comer himself, however, tried to shield Lutnick. After Republican questioning rounds, he told reporters he considered Lutnick’s contacts with Epstein comparatively insubstantial. Three meetings over ten years, he said, were not especially extraordinary. Lutnick had been “open.”
But that characterization again collides with the released documents. They suggest there may have been additional contacts after 2005. Records point to meetings in 2011. In addition, the two apparently invested in the same private company and communicated regarding neighborhood and charity matters. Even Epstein’s interest in a former Lutnick family nanny appears in the files. According to the documents, Epstein had her résumé sent to him in 2013.
Howard Lutnick is therefore the first active cabinet member from Donald Trump’s administration to officially testify before the committee over the Epstein affair. Additional questioning is expected to follow. Pam Bondi has already been subpoenaed as well after Trump dismissed her as attorney general only weeks ago. Her testimony is scheduled for the end of May.
The real political danger for the White House no longer lies only in the old files themselves. Increasingly, the impression is emerging that central figures around Trump are being forced to revise their earlier statements piece by piece whenever new documents appear. That is exactly what made the Howard Lutnick hearing so explosive. On Wednesday, the focus was not merely the acquaintance with Jeffrey Epstein. It was the question of why the stories about it keep changing.
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