Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has finally agreed to answer questions about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein before Congress.
Lutnick, who was photographed hanging out on Epstein’s “pedophile island,” volunteered to testify in front of the House Oversight Committee—but will do so behind closed doors, only agreeing to do so after Republican Rep. Nancy Mace threatened to subpoena him.
“I look forward to appearing before the committee,” Lutnick told Axios. “I have done nothing wrong, and I want to set the record straight.”
Lutnick’s offer to testify comes after Democrats and a handful of Republicans, including Mace, demanded he turn over all records regarding his connection to Epstein and allies of the late sex trafficker, who was Lutnick’s neighbor in Manhattan.
Lutnick, 64, has already been busted lying about his relationship with Epstein. He told a New York Post podcast last year that he met Epstein in 2005 when he and his wife moved next door to him. Lutnick claimed that he was creeped out by Epstein’s massage room during a tour of his Manhattan townhome and cut off all contact shortly after.
However, files released by the Justice Department in late January revealed that Lutnick and Epstein traded emails well beyond 2005, including after Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2008. His most recent emails to the late, disgraced financier were in 2018, a year before officials say he took his own life in prison.
Some of that correspondence was regarding travel to Epstein’s property in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where victims of Epstein allege they were sexually abused.
Lutnick told the Senate Appropriations Committee last month that his wife, children, and their nannies traveled to the island with him.
“I don’t recall why we did it,” he said of the trip.
Much attention has been paid to Lutnick’s photo on Epstein’s island, which the Justice Department removed from its public cache of documents but was still discovered by “jmail,” a site run by two tech workers who created a searchable version of Epstein’s Gmail inbox.
Confronted with why the photo was taken down, a DOJ official told the Daily Beast that the image was “part of a batch of files that had been flagged for nudity.”
“The batch of thousands of images was pulled for review and is being uploaded with necessary redactions on a rolling basis,” the official said. “No files are being deleted.”
The photo shows Epstein, Lutnick, and two other men wearing baggy shorts and T-shirts or button-down shirts as they walk on the island. Everyone in the image is fully clothed, raising further questions about the DOJ’s rationale for concealing it.
Lutnick has not been accused of criminal wrongdoing. The Department of Commerce did not respond to a request for comment.
Mace thanked Lutnick for volunteering to testify.
“On the eve of my impending subpoena of Howard Lutnick re. Epstein files - I am told he will now appear before the Oversight Committee voluntarily,” she wrote on X. “Thank you, Sec. Lutnick.”
Rep. James Comer, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, also praised Lutnick for volunteering.
“Secretary Lutnick has proactively agreed to appear voluntarily before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform,” Comer said in a statement. “I commend his demonstrated commitment to transparency and appreciate his willingness to engage with the Committee. I look forward to his testimony.”
President Donald Trump, himself an old pal of Epstein, has stood behind Lutnick despite his association with the sex trafficker.
The White House told Axios in a statement on the matter, “Secretary Lutnick continues to be a critical asset for President Trump, having played a key role in securing major trade and investment deals. The entire Trump administration, including Secretary Lutnick, remains focused on delivering more wins for the American people.”
