Howard Lutnick was not honest in his statements about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.Image: keystone
US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick wants to voluntarily be questioned about his previous contacts with the deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
03/04/2026, 03:4903/04/2026, 03:49
As the US portal “Axios” reports, Lutnick is said to have agreed to a hearing behind closed doors before a control committee of the US House of Representatives. The committee is part of a political investigation into the abuse network of the financier who died in custody in 2019.
“I have done nothing wrong and I want to put things right,” “Axios” quoted the minister as saying. The committee’s chairman, Republican James Comer, said Lutnick proactively agreed to testify voluntarily. A transcript of the conversation should be published after legal review.
What was Lutnick’s relationship with Epstein?
Lutnick was mentioned in recently released US Justice Department files related to Epstein. However, a mention in itself does not initially mean anything. Nevertheless, Democrats in Congress in particular have recently intensively called for clarification about the nature and extent of Lutnick’s contacts with Epstein and even for his resignation.
Former President Bill Clinton and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, were most recently interviewed. Democrats then accused James Comer of conducting a politically motivated trial. It was better to question “someone who actually interacted with Jeffrey Epstein,” it was said.
Lutnick had already told a Senate committee in February that he had “no relationship” with Epstein and had little to do with him. The minister used to be Epstein’s neighbor in New York. Last year he said in a podcast about Epstein that he had already decided in 2005 that he never wanted to be in the same room with this “disgusting person” again. At the same time, published documents show that there were still meetings years later, including a family visit to Epstein’s private island in 2012. He never observed any crimes, explained Lutnick. (sda/dpa)