Commerce Secretary Lutnick to Face House Oversight Questioning on Epstein Ties

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is set to appear for questioning Wednesday before the House Oversight Committee. The session is part of the panel's probe into Jeffrey Epstein.

Lutnick's voluntary closed-door deposition occurs amid a months-long series of appearances by prominent figures. Many have faced uncomfortable disclosures from more than 3 million pages of records known as the Epstein files.

Those files indicate Epstein and Lutnick did business together as recently as 2014. Each invested in Adfin, a now-defunct advertising company. The records also show that in 2012, Lutnick, his wife Allison, and their children visited Little St. James, Epstein's private island in the Caribbean.

An undated photo from the files depicts Epstein and Lutnick among a group of men on the island.

Prior to these disclosures, Lutnick, former chairman of Cantor Fitzgerald, had said he ended contact with Epstein in 2005. That was three years before Epstein pleaded guilty to state prostitution charges in Florida. The two men were next-door neighbors in New York City for years. They exchanged emails as late as 2018, the year before Epstein died in jail, about Adfin and a planned museum expansion near their homes.

In February testimony before the Senate, Lutnick said he "barely had anything to do with that person," referring to Epstein. He did acknowledge the island visit.

"We had lunch on the island, that is true, for an hour. Then we left with all of my children, with my nannies and my wife all together," Lutnick said. "We were on family vacation. We were not apart. To suggest there was anything untoward about that in 2012, I don't recall why we did it. But we did."

Lutnick's appearance comes one week after the committee said former Attorney General Pam Bondi agreed to testify later this month. She had been set for April 14, but the Justice Department canceled after her ouster from the post.

Others who have testified include the executors of Epstein's estate, former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and billionaire Les Wexner.