Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has been cornered over the firing of three women from Donald Trump’s Cabinet while being let off the hook for his ties to sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
During a tense hearing on Capitol Hill, the Trump mega-donor was taken to task for his links to Epstein and Trump’s refusal to hold him accountable.
Asked by Democrat Madeleine Dean if Trump was concerned about the relationship he had with Epstein, which continued until 2018, Lutnick replied: “I am not going to discuss conversations I have with the president. That is not something I’m going to do.”
But Dean continued to press the issue, highlighting the interview Lutnick gave last year when he described Epstein as “disgusting” and claimed he met him only once in 2005 before cutting off all ties.
“If you remember that interview, you said you would never be in the room with him, socially, for business or even philanthropy,” she said.
“President Trump has just fired three cabinet secretaries, three women: Kristi Noem, Pam Bondi, Lori Chavez-DeRemer. If President Trump has even a shred of concern about accountability for Jeffrey Epstein’s enablers, he would fire you too,” she added.
Lutnick’s 2025 interview turned out to be damning for the billionaire commerce secretary, who recounted in vivid detail how Epstein showed off his infamous “massage room” while giving Lutnick and his wife a tour of his New York townhouse after they moved next door to him.
“I say to him, ‘Massage table in the middle of your house? How often do you have a massage?’” Lutnick recalled, speaking on Miranda Devine’s podcast One.
“And he says, ‘Every day.’ And then he gets, like weirdly close to me, and he says, ‘And the right kind of massage’... My wife and I decided that I will never be in the room with that disgusting person ever again.”
However, files released by the Justice Department later revealed that Lutnick and Epstein were in contact years after Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor in 2008, including messages arranging calls and lunches on his private island.
Despite this, Trump has simply brushed off the issue with Lutnick, while three other Cabinet secretaries—Kristie Noem, Pam Bondi and Lori Chavez-DeRemer—have all been sacked over the past seven weeks.
“I see a theme,” Jasmine Crockett, a congresswoman from Texas, posted on social media. “He will throw the incompetent women under the bus a lot faster than the incompetent men.”
Noem was axed as Homeland Security Secretary after ongoing criticism over her leadership, including ICE enforcement in Minnesota, a $220 million taxpayer-funded ad campaign, and alleged mismanagement of the department.
Bondi was sacked as Attorney General after coming under fire for her handling of the Epstein files and her inability to secure prosecutions against Trump’s enemies.
And Chavez-DeRemer left the administration this week amid a probe into allegations of misconduct, including an affair with a member of her security team and the use of her department’s resources for personal trips.
Their ousting has drawn accusations of misogyny, given that Lutnick and other male members of Trump’s Cabinet have also faced a string of controversies, but so far remain in the president’s good graces.
FBI director Kash Patel, for example, has come under fire for using his taxpayer-funded jet to visit his girlfriend or attend recreational activities, as well as for alleged intoxication on the job. He strongly disputed those claims.
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth also scored his job amid allegations of alcohol abuse and sexual misconduct—claims that he also denies—and last year disclosed highly sensitive military information on a Signal messaging app with a journalist and other Cabinet members.
“Bondi was awful, but no worse than Patel. Noem was terrible, but no worse than Hegseth,” said Bill Kristol, who served in the Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush administrations.
“Funny that it’s only the women who get fired.”
Thursday’s hearing was not the only time this week Lutnick was grilled about Epstein.
Speaking before a Senate committee on Wednesday, Democrat Chris Van Hollen noted that the Cabinet official had not responded to an earlier request for documents about his ties to the convicted sex offender.
Lutnick replied that he was “here today to testify about the budget” but would be returning to Congress early next month for a scheduled interview with the House Oversight Committee.
“I am volunteering within two weeks to answer any and all questions on this topic,” he said.
The commerce secretary used the same tactic to avoid answering similar questions from House Democrats on Thursday.
