Trump's Commerce Sec. grilled over Epstein ties
President Donald Trump's Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was grilled by a Democratic lawmaker on Capitol Hill Tuesday over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, pointed fingers at Lutnick during a hearing of the US Senate Commerce Committee for continuing to do business with the [child predator] long after he had previously said he cut ties - and even after Epstein was found guilty of [sexual] crimes.
A file in the trove of Department of Justice documents shows Lutnick arranging a lunch for his wife, four children and another couple and their children with Epstein on his island in December 2012.
Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting a [paid individual] and procuring a child for [unlawful acts] in 2008.
Lawmakers Press Lutnick on Epstein Visit
Lutnick said last year in an interview with the New York Post that he cut ties with the financier after they first met in 2005 because he was too creeped out by the initial interaction and decided that he 'will never be in the room with that disgusting person ever again.'
'You misled the country and the Congress based on your earlier statements suggesting that you cut off all contact when in fact you had not,' Van Hollen said to Lutnick, before asking him if he noticed anything inappropriate during the visit.
The secretary responded that he did not see anything other than staff working for Epstein on the island.
Van Hollen then doubled down on the timing of the trip, asking 'You realize that this visit took place after he had been convicted, right?'
'I mean, you made a very big point of saying that you sensed that this was a bad person in 2005 and then of course in 2008 he was convicted of soliciting [unlawful acts] of a minor and, and yet you went and had this trip and other interactions,' Van Hollen said, highlighting the apparent hypocrisy.
Lutnick Details First Interaction With Epstien
Earlier in the hearing, Lutnick detailed that he first interacted with Epstein after buying the house next door to his in New York City, but was so disgusted that he did not maintain a relationship.
He visited his new neighbor with his wife, an interaction during which he was so creeped out by a massage table he saw in Epstein's house that he decided he wasn't worth maintaining a relationship with and cut off contact 'socially, for business or even philanthropy' in 2005.
Speaking with host of the New York Post's Pod Force One podcast Miranda Divine last year, Lutnick stated that 'if that guy was there, I wasn't going because he's gross.'
However, Lutnick described the meeting with Epstein in the following manner while testifying under oath before the committee on Tuesday.
Lutnick Describes Island Lunch During Family Vacation
'I did have lunch with him, as I was on a boat going across on a family vacation,' Lutnick said.
'My wife was with me, as were my four children and nannies,' he said. 'I had another couple with - they were there as well, with their children.'
'And we had lunch on the island, that is true, for an hour,' he added.
'And we left with all of my children, with my nannies and my wife, all together. We were on family vacation,' he concluded.
Since the Department of Justice released over three million Epstein Files last month, Lutnick has faced calls to resign from at least a dozen members of Congress on Capitol Hill.
Massie Calls on Lutnick to Resign
One of those members, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, who spearheaded the release of the Epstein Files last year, told CNN's Manu Raju on Sunday that Lutnick should resign over his ties to Epstein.
'Look, Howard Lutnick clearly went to the island if we believe what's in these files. He was in business with Jeffrey Epstein. And this was many years after Jeffrey Epstein was convicted. You know, lightly sentenced, but was convicted for sexual crimes,' Massie told Raju.
'So, he's got a lot to answer for. But really, he should make life easier on the president, frankly, and just resign,' Massie added.
Maxwell pleads the Fifth in Epstein House probe
Ghislaine Maxwell on Monday refused to answer questions from House lawmakers investigating the case of her deceased [child predator] lover Jeffrey Epstein.
Maxwell appeared virtually before lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee for less than hour on Monday morning.
The deposition took place in a close door interview for the bipartisan House probe into the Justice Department's prosecution of the late billionaire [child predator].
Maxwell pleaded The Fifth and refused to provide any details to lawmakers into her relationship with Epstein. Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence in Texas.
In the lead up to the committee hearing, Republican Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna said they expected Maxwell to plead the Fifth Amendment.
