Howard Lutnick Enters The On-Deck Circle, Will Testify On Epstein Following Clinton Grilling

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick agreed to testify on his connection to Jeffrey Epstein as part of the House Oversight Committee’s investigation into Epstein and his circle of powerful friends.

Lutnick told Axios on Tuesday that he volunteered for the Epstein deposition, maintaining that he did “nothing wrong” and wants “to set the record straight.” President Donald Trump’s Commerce secretary once lived next door to Epstein in Manhattan and visited Epstein’s infamous Caribbean island in 2012, four years after Epstein pled guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution. Lutnick has not been accused of any wrongdoing related to Epstein’s sex crimes.

Lutnick is set to testify before the Republican-led Oversight Committee in the coming weeks, with the hearing taking place behind closed doors, similar to the hearings of former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who were grilled by lawmakers over their connection to Epstein last week.

“Secretary Lutnick has proactively agreed to appear voluntarily before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform,” committee chairman Rep. James Comer (R-KY) said. “I commend his demonstrated commitment to transparency and appreciate his willingness to engage with the Committee. I look forward to his testimony.”

The deposition will likely focus heavily on Lutnick’s lunch with Epstein on the financier’s island on Christmas Eve in 2012. Last month, Lutnick testified under oath during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing that he visited Epstein’s Little Saint James island while on vacation with his family.

“My wife was with me as were my four children and nannies. I had another couple — they were there as well with their children — and we had lunch on the island. That is true, for an hour, and then we left with all of my children, with my nannies and my wife all together,” Lutnick said.

A photo showing Lutnick with Epstein on Little Saint James was released as part of the Justice Department’s Epstein files dump in January, but the image was removed after it was made public. The Justice Department then released the photo again last week. A DOJ spokeswoman told CBS News that the photo was flagged for nudity and taken down, but later restored after it was reviewed.

Justice Department

Lutnick was criticized for failing to mention the 2012 lunch on Epstein’s island when he told the New York Post’s Miranda Devine last year that after he and his wife first met Epstein in 2005, he vowed to never be in the same room as him. Lutnick suggested he and his wife were unnerved after Epstein gave them a tour of his home in Manhattan and pointed out a massage table “in the middle” of his home, making remarks about getting the “right kind of massage.”

“In the six or eight steps that it takes to get from his house to my house, my wife and I decided that I will never be in the room with that disgusting person ever again,” Lutnick told Devine last October. “So I was never in the room with him socially, for business, or even philanthropy. If that guy was there, I wasn’t going because he’s gross.”

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) grilled Lutnick over his relationship with Epstein last month, saying, “Secretary Lutnick, I think you understand the root of concern here. It’s the way you described, very emphatically, your first encounter with him … [and] said you were disgusted and would never have any contact with him again.”

Lutnick told senators that he doesn’t remember “why we did it,” referring to the lunch with Epstein on his island, but said it was false “to suggest there was anything untoward about that.” The Trump official also said that he did not witness anything inappropriate when he was on the island with Epstein.

When asked about a potential Lutnick deposition, President Trump said last Friday that “Howard would go in and do whatever he has to say.”

“He’s a very innocent guy — doing a good job,” Trump added.

The White House told The Daily Wire last month that President Donald Trump remains confident in Lutnick’s ability to lead the Commerce Department.

“President Trump has assembled the best and most transformative cabinet in modern history. The entire Trump administration, including Secretary Lutnick and the Department of Commerce, remains focused on delivering for the American people,” White House Spokesman Kush Desai said.

Lutnick’s quick agreement to testify before the House Oversight Committee is a sharp contrast with the Clintons’ months-long fight with the committee as they fought subpoenas sent by Comer and did not show up for their scheduled deposition in January. The Clintons only agreed to testify after the House began contempt proceedings.

House Democrats have also called for President Trump to testify before the Oversight Committee, arguing that Republicans “set a new precedent” when they subpoenaed the Clintons.