Howard Lutnick sweats as he backtracks on Epstein ties: 'You misled the country'

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) turned up the heat on Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick Tuesday in a Senate hearing over his past ties with Jeffrey Epstein, who Lutnick falsely claimed last year to have cut all contact with in 2005.

Last year, Lutnick – a finance billionaire and longtime ally of President Donald Trump – told the New York Post that he had cut off all ties with Epstein in 2005. But newly released Epstein files, however, show the two maintained contact through at least 2018, contact that included Lutnick making arrangements to visit Epstein’s private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

“I think you understand the root of concern here,” Hollen told Lutnick, who was testifying before the Senate Committee on Appropriations.

“It's the way you described, very emphatically, your first encounters with him, said you were disgusted [and] would never have any contact with him again. Did you, in fact, make the visit to Jeffrey Epstein's private island?”

A nervous-looking Lutnick, appearing to choose his words carefully, admitted that he had, in fact, visited the island, an admission that directly contradicted his past statements.

“I did have lunch with him as I was on a boat going across on a family vacation. My wife was with me, as were my four children and nannies,” Lutnick told the committee.

“Another couple were there as well with their children, and 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. I don't recall why we did it.”

Beyond visiting Epstein’s island, documents recently released by the Justice Department suggest that Lutnick had also done business with Epstein, had arranged to have drinks together in 2011, and communicated in 2018 regarding matters related to real estate.

When pressed by Hollen, Lutnick also admitted to having a meeting with Epstein in 2011, and was subsequently chastised over his previous statements about having cut ties with the convicted child sex offender.

“There's not an indication that you yourself engaged in any wrongdoing with Jeffrey Epstein, it's the fact that you misled the country and the Congress based on your earlier statements, suggesting that you'd cut off all contact, when in fact, you had not,” Hollen said.

“This visit took place after he'd been convicted, right? I mean, you made a very big point of saying that you sensed that this was a bad person in 2005! And then of course, in 2008, he was convicted of soliciting prostitution of a minor, and yet you went and had this trip and other interactions.”