GOP chairman says Lutnick ‘wasn’t 100% truthful’ about Epstein ties as commerce secretary faces congressional investigators

By Annie Grayer, CNN

(CNN) — Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is facing questions from congressional investigators Wednesday about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein after revelations that his contact with the late convicted sex offender extended years beyond what he initially claimed.

Lutnick is the highest-ranking Trump administration official prominently named in the Epstein files — outside of the president himself — and his appearance behind closed doors marks an extremely rare occurrence of a sitting Cabinet official testifying in a congressional probe. It underscores that the Epstein scandal still hangs over President Donald Trump and his administration, despite the president’s repeated efforts to move on from the saga.

The secretary is expected to face questions from the committee related to his multiple interactions with Epstein, including a 2012 visit to the financier’s infamous Caribbean island with his wife, nannies and children.

While Lutnick has faced calls for his resignation, the White House has so far expressed confidence in him. But the headache for the Trump administration won’t end with Lutnick’s appearance. The Republican-led panel is expected to question former Attorney General Pam Bondi later this month about her role in overseeing the release of the Epstein files, which has been mired in controversy.

Lutnick did not answer questions from reporters on Capitol Hill Wednesday.

House Oversight Chair James Comer told reporters ahead of the interview that he planned to ask Lutnick why his interactions with Epstein spanned years beyond his initial claims. Although Comer conceded that Lutnick was not forthcoming about the extent of his interactions with Epstein, the Republican chairman said judgment is up to the American people.

“We’re going to ask him all of these questions, and we’ll let the American people judge whether the credibility was damaged or not,” the Kentucky Republican said in a response to a question from CNN. “At the end of the day, I haven’t seen wrongdoing in the email correspondence, but he wasn’t 100% truthful with whether or not he had been on the island. So we’ll see.”

In October 2025, Lutnick told the New York Post in a podcast interview that he and his wife decided to cut off contact with Epstein in 2005 after the financier showed off a massage table and made suggestive comments while giving them a tour of his home. But the Epstein files revealed that the relationship between the two men, who lived as neighbors in New York City, went on much longer.

From email correspondence in 2011, a visit to Epstein’s island in 2012, investing in the same business venture in 2013, and corresponding about a neighborhood issue as late as 2018, Lutnick and Epstein kept in contact years after Lutnick claimed to have cut ties.

Beyond clarifying his own record with Epstein, Comer said Lutnick has useful testimony for the Republican-led panel given his visit to Epstein’s island.

“We haven’t talked to too many people that have admitted they’ve been on the island,” Comer told reporters.

Testifying in front of a different Senate committee in February, Lutnick confirmed that he and his family had lunch with Epstein on his Caribbean island in 2012 but insisted that the two did not have a relationship.

“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 Senate committee at the time. “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. … I don’t recall why we did it.”

But the Commerce Secretary denied that he and Epstein had deeper ties.

“Of these millions and millions of documents, there may be 10 emails connecting me with him… over a 14 year period,” Lutnick told senators. “I did not have any relationship with him. I barely had anything to do with that person.”

Lutnick is appearing voluntarily for the closed-door interview with the panel. While a transcript will be produced, the interview will not be videotaped, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN. Comer said Wednesday the panel has a precedent for not videotaping witnesses who testify voluntarily.

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CNN’s Jeremy Herb, Adam Cancryn and Matt Egan contributed to this report.