Lutnick 'Changed His Story' on Epstein Ties, Democrats Say

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick faced sharp questioning from House Democrats on Wednesday over shifting explanations about his past ties to Jeffrey Epstein during a closed-door interview by the House Oversight Committee. As they left the session, Democratic members accused Lutnick of revising his story as new details surfaced from the so-called Epstein files, CBS News reports. The revelations include that the two men invested together in an advertising firm, Adfin, as recently as 2014 and that Lutnick, his wife, and their children visited Epstein's private island in 2012. The files show that Lutnick was still corresponding with Epstein years after he said he had cut off ties, per the Wall Street Journal.

Rep. Ro Khanna said Lutnick "changed his story" and mocked his testimony as a distortion of language, per CBS, while fellow Democratic Reps. Suhas Subramanyam and James Walkinshaw called him dishonest and urged him to resign. Walkinshaw said Lutnick declined to say whether he had discussed his testimony with President Trump and criticized the lack of video recording of the interview, alleging a cover-up. Walkinshaw also told reporters that Lutnick "claims that when he said, 'I would never be in a room again with Jeffrey Epstein,' he meant only him and Jeffrey Epstein," per the AP. Democrats said Lutnick also backed away from his statement last year that Epstein was the "greatest blackmailer ever." Republican Chairman James Comer defended Lutnick as cooperative and "very transparent," saying the secretary corrected inaccurate past public statements.

In his testimony, Lutnick, a former Cantor Fitzgerald chairman who long maintained he cut off contact with Epstein in 2005, revised elements of that account. He told lawmakers he bought the townhouse next to Epstein's in 1997 but did not move in until 2005, insisted they had no meaningful personal or business relationship while neighbors, and said he never saw Epstein with young women or observed misconduct. Lutnick said he met Epstein three times, including a coffee visit where he noticed a massage table, a family lunch on Epstein's island arranged without his knowledge of how Epstein's staff learned his whereabouts, and a brief conversation about scaffolding in Epstein's foyer. Comer said a transcript of the session will be released.