U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick confirmed on Tuesday that he traveled to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s private island in 2012 for lunch as part of a family vacation.
“I did not have a relationship with him. I barely had anything to do with that person,” Lutnick told senators at a hearing on broadband infrastructure.
Asked by Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) if he saw anything inappropriate during his time with the deceased financier, Lutnick said, “The only thing I saw…was staff who worked for Mr. Epstein on that island.”
Lutnick, a billionaire businessman, is facing bipartisan calls to resign from the Trump administration after emails released by the Department of Justice showed he had ties to Epstein even after he was convicted in 2008 on charges of trafficking minors.
After meeting with Epstein in 2005, Lutnick said he vowed to “never be in a room with that disgusting person ever again.” And he told The New York Post last year that after leaving his former neighbor’s house at the time, “my wife and I decided that I will never be in the room with that disgusting person ever again.”
Van Hollen told Lutnick on Tuesday that he “totally misrepresented” the extent of his relationship with Epstein.
“The information recently revealed shows that you had interactions with Epstein over 13 years, including long after he was convicted of soliciting the prostitution of a minor. That does call into question your credibility and fitness for the job,” Van Hollen added.
