Commerce Secretary Lutnick shuts down Epstein questions at listening to

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Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick repeatedly shut down questions on his previous ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein throughout a price range listening to Thursday.

He refused to handle discrepancies in his statements and insisted the setting was "not" the place to debate them as a result of he was showing earlier than the House Appropriations Committee to debate the price range.

Lutnick deflected as Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., pressed him on why he claimed to have minimize off contact with Epstein in 2005 regardless of proof they remained in contact for years afterward, amid mounting requires his removing from the Trump administration.

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Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick testifies throughout a throughout a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Associated Companies listening to on the Commerce Division 2027 price range request in Washington, DC on April 22, 2026. (Picture by Nathan Posner/Anadolu through Getty Photos)

The conflict underscores intensifying scrutiny over Lutnick’s previous relationship with Epstein and raises contemporary questions concerning the consistency of his account, as lawmakers weigh oversight of the Commerce Division and demand better transparency from senior officers tied to the late financier’s community.

In the course of the listening to, Meng pointed to reviews that Lutnick visited Epstein’s non-public island in 2012 and exchanged enterprise emails as just lately as 2018.

She requested why Lutnick had beforehand mentioned he was by no means "in a room" with Epstein after 2005.

Lutnick didn't reply her inquiries, as a substitute saying he had agreed to handle "any and all questions" in a separate session with lawmakers within the coming weeks. "In the present day I'm right here to testify concerning the price range," he mentioned, repeating that he had "nothing to cover."

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Paperwork included within the U.S. Division of Justice launch of the Jeffrey Epstein information are photographed on Jan. 2, 2024. (Jon Elswick/AP)

The identical sample performed out later within the listening to when Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., confronted Lutnick extra forcefully, accusing him of mendacity concerning the extent of his relationship with Epstein and urgent him on previous enterprise ties.

"Why did you lie about your relationship with Jeffrey Epstein?" she pressed, urging the Commerce secretary to reply publicly slightly than in a closed-door setting.

Lutnick once more declined to have interaction, pointing to a future look earlier than one other committee and refusing to reply straight. Dean minimize him off, saying, "Let the document mirror—you’re dodging the query. The quilt-up continues," earlier than elevating the likelihood that President Donald Trump may take away him from his publish.

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Howard Lutnick joined the second Trump administration in 2025 after co-chairing Trump's transition workforce. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg through Getty Photos)

Lutnick has sought to downplay his previous relationship with Epstein amid stress from the general public for the late intercourse offender's associates to be revealed.

The 2 lived subsequent door to one another in New York , however Lutnick instructed Congress he "barely had something to do with that individual."

The Trump administration has to date dismissed requires his resignation, whilst questions on his previous ties proceed to mount, and Lutnick is predicted to face extra direct questioning from lawmakers in Might.