White House stands behind Commerce Secretary amid Epstein disclosures
President Donald Trump continues to back Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick after Lutnick admitted having visited Jeffrey Epstein’s private island before a Senate committee Tuesday.
“Secretary Lutnick remains a very important member of President Trump’s team, and the President fully supports the secretary,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt at a briefing Tuesday.
In an October podcast interview with New York Post Editor Miranda Devine, Lutnick had said that he and his wife did not pursue any kind of relationship with Epstein after moving next door and meeting him in 2005. They were, according to Lutnick, put off by some comments Epstein made about his massage table while giving them a tour of his home.
“My wife and I decided that I will never be in the room with that disgusting person ever again. So I was never in the room with him socially, for business, or even philanthropy. If that guy was there, I wasn’t going because he’s gross,” Lutnick said. “So yeah, that’s my story, a one and absolutely done.”
But recently disclosed documents from the Epstein files revealed that Lutnick did, in fact, maintain a relationship with Epstein including investing in a business together, meeting for drinks, discussing neighboring property development and invitations to dinners and galas, until 2018. Several emails also suggested that Lutnick had at least tried to visit Epstein’s island while spending some time in the Caribbean on vacation.
He confirmed Tuesday that he did visit the island while vacationing with his and another family in December 2012.
“We had lunch on the island, that is true, for an hour, and we left with all of my children, with my nannies and my wife, all together. We were on family vacation. We were not apart,” Lutnick said, during the visit.
Congress continues to look into the Epstein files, after passing a bill requiring the Department of Justice to make them public while allowing for redactions that protect victims. Leading the charge are the bill’s sponsors, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Pa., who have successfully challenged the department and gotten the names of some of Epstein’s friends unredacted.
Even before Tuesday’s admission from Lutnick, Massie and some Democrats were calling for his resignation.
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