Feb 8, 2026, 10:40 p.mFeb 8, 2026, 10:40 p.m
Should resign according to party colleagues: Howard Lutnick.Image: keystone
Republican Congressman Thomas Massie has called for US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to resign in connection with the Epstein case. If you believe the information from the files surrounding the deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Lutnick was on the multimillionaire’s private island and had business relationships with him years after his conviction in 2008, Massie told the US broadcaster CNN.
Against this background, he accused Lutnick of lying. The US Secretary of Commerce has many questions to answer, but “frankly he should make life easier for the President (Donald Trump) and simply resign.”
The US multimillionaire Epstein ran an abuse ring from New York for years, to which many young women and minors fell victim. The convicted sex offender died in custody in 2019 at the age of 66, before any further sentencing could have taken place.
Mentions in the Epstein files
The US Secretary of Commerce appears numerous times in the recently released files on the Epstein case. However, simply naming or depicting it is not an indication of wrongdoing.
US media report, citing emails contained in the files, that Lutnick and his family are said to have planned a visit to Epstein’s island of Little St. James in 2012. Another message seems to suggest that the visit took place. The island is said to have been the center of Epstein’s abuse ring. According to the New York Times, Lutnick and Epstein, who were neighbors in New York, are also said to have invested together in the same private company. The broadcaster CBS News speaks of business connections that are said to have existed after Epstein’s conviction.
Lutnick said in a podcast about Epstein last year that he had already decided in 2005 that he never wanted to be in the same room with this “disgusting person” again. The New York Times reports that Lutnick said in a brief phone conversation last week that he had not spent any time with Epstein. The newspaper also quotes a Commerce Department representative as saying that Lutnick and his wife had “only very limited” contacts with Epstein after 2005.
In the UK, Lutnick would be long gone
The Republican Massie, together with the Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna, initiated the legislative initiative to publish the Epstein files. In December and January, the US Department of Justice published large amounts of documents. Massie now said of Lutnick: “If this were Great Britain, he would be gone a long time ago.” The Epstein scandal had already led to several personnel consequences within the Labor government. (sda/dpa)