“And you realize this visit took place after he had been convicted, right? I mean you made a very big point of saying that you sensed this was a bad person in 2005. And then of course, in 2008 he was convicted of soliciting prostitution of a minor, and yet you went and had this trip and other interactions,” Van Hollen said.
The commerce secretary then denied that he had dinner with Epstein at the disgraced financier’s New York home in 2011, as detailed in the files. The dinner reportedly included other high-profile New York socialites, such as alleged child molester (and famed Hollywood filmmaker) Woody Allen.
“I actually don’t know what you’re referring to,” Lutnick said. “Look, I looked through the millions of documents for my name–just like everybody else—and found that there was a document that said I had a meeting with him in May, I think, for an hour at 5 o’clock. Not for a dinner or otherwise, for an hour, at 5 o’clock.”
