Chris Van Hollen, Chris Coons Press Howard Lutnick About New Epstein Files Revelations
Democratic Senators Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Chris Coons of Delaware pressed Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Tuesday about his past interactions with sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Newly released records from the Department of Justice (DOJ) showed that Lutnick remained in contact with Epstein as recently as 2018, years after Epstein pleaded guilty to sex crimes. After Van Hollen asked Lutnick to explain why he coordinated a meeting with Epstein on his private island in 2012, the Commerce Secretary told a Senate Commerce Committee hearing that he had met Epstein only a few times and had very little involvement with him, even when they were neighbors in New York.
“Why do the Epstein files show you coordinating a meeting and planning a visit with Jeffrey Epstein on his private island in December 2012? » asked Van Hollen.
“Thanks for the question. I’m happy to be here to clarify that I met Jeffrey Epstein when “He moved out, when I moved into a house next door to him in New York,” Lutnick said. “And I met him then. During the Over the next 14 years, I met him two other times that I remember. Twice, and that’s nothing for six years. So six years later, I met him. And then a year and a half later, I met him and never Again. Probably the total, and you’ve seen all these documents, these millions and millions of documents, there might be ten emails connecting me to him, probably ten emails connecting me me with him for 14 years. I had no relationship with him. I had almost nothing to do with this person.
Lutnick told the New York Post in October that he vowed never to be in the same room as Epstein after witnessing a massage table located in one of the rooms of Epstein’s home. Epstein also allegedly got “strangely close” to Lutnick to inform him that he was getting the “right kind of massage” every day. (RELATED: Reporter Confronts Bill Gates Over STD Allegations in Epstein Files)
During the hearing, Lutnick confirmed that he, his wife, children and nannies had lunch with Epstein on a boat during their 2012 family vacation.
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“My wife was with me, as were my four children and nannies. I had another couple with it, they were there too with their children and we had lunch on the island. It’s true, for an hour, and we left with all my children, with my nannies and my wife, all together. We were on family vacation. We weren’t separated,” Lutnick said.
“Mr. Secretary, once again, as I said, there is no indication that you yourself committed wrongdoing with Jeffrey Epstein. This is the fact that you believe you have misled the country and Congress based on your previous statements, suggesting that you had cut off all contact when in reality that was not the case,” Van Hollen said.
Other records suggest that Lutnick was scheduled to have drinks with Epstein at his home on May 1, 2011. Lutnick said that although he was on the schedule, he denied having dinner with Epstein at his New York home that day. Epstein also appeared to express interest in meeting Lutnick’s nanny, although Lutnick said he had no knowledge of Epstein ever meeting her. The records also showed that Epstein and Lutnick signed documents related to a business venture.
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Later in the hearing, Coons asked Lutnick to disclose all details regarding his relationship with Epstein. Lutnick reiterated that he only met Epstein three times over a 14-year period and denied any wrongdoing.
“To the best of my memory, I met him when he was moving in next door to me, and I met him two others times in 14 years, none in the six years following this first meeting, then a year and a “Half later, and none after that, and in the presence of my wife,” Lutnick said. “And as Senator Van Hollen said, under no circumstances is there a single word indicating that I did anything remotely false in every possible way. I didn’t have, anything you could call a relationship, anything you could call a awareness.”
“I’ve literally met him three times in 14 years, with a wide spread in between. That’s all I remember,” Lutnick continued.
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Lutnick has received bipartisan calls to resign due to the new details regarding his interactions with Epstein. Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, who was a leading caller for the release of the Epstein files, told CNN that Lutnick was “clearly in business” with Epstein and should simply leave office.
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