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Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick testifies before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, February 10, 2026.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nChip Somodevilla\/Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHowever, the documents released over a week ago showed\u00a0one email from Epstein’s schedule for May 1, 2011, showing plans for drinks with Lutnick.<\/p>\n
Legal documents also showed both Lutnick and Epstein invested in the same business in 2012.<\/p>\n
Lutnick testified that he did not have lunch with Epstein in 2011. He also testified that he had no idea about an email from the documents that said Epstein had expressed interest in meeting his nanny.<\/p>\n
“I had no idea what that was about. Had nothing to do with me,” he testified.<\/p>\n
Van Hollen questioned why Lutnick would make the visit even though Epstein had already been convicted.<\/p>\n
“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,” the senator said.<\/p>\n
Lutnick told the committee that he had “nothing to hide, absolutely nothing,” and would speak to the committee about sharing his own records as they relate to Jeffrey Epstein.<\/p>\n
“I have done absolutely nothing wrong,” he testified.<\/p>\n
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Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick arrives to testify before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, February 10, 2026.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nElizabeth Frantz\/Reuters<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nDemocratic Sen. Chris Coons also criticized Lutnick.<\/p>\n
“It troubles me that you took your family to lunch on his island, that you had appointments with him. Please disclose everything. Put this to rest, because this is an issue of grave concern to my constituents,” Coons told Lutnick. “President Trump ran on releasing the Epstein files.”<\/p>\n
Lutnick again maintained he had limited interactions with Epstein.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I did not have anything you could call a relationship, anything you could call an acquaintance,” he told Coons<\/p>\n
The White House has defended Lutnick, following the release of the new Epstein files.<\/p>\n
“The entire Trump administration, including Secretary Lutnick and the Department of Commerce, remains focused on delivering for the American people,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement Monday.<\/p>\n
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt echoed those statements on Tuesday when asked about Lutnick’s comments earlier in the day.<\/p>\n
“Secretary Lutnick remains a very important member of President Trump’s team, and the president fully supports the secretary,” she said before changing the topic and discussing the administration’s latest “wins in the news,” citing record stock market gains.<\/p>\n
Several Democratic lawmakers, however, have called on Lutnick to resign because of his appearance in the files.<\/p>\n
“It’s now clear that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has been lying about his relationship with Epstein. He said he had no interactions with Epstein after 2005, yet we now know they were in business together. Lutnick must resign or be fired,” Rep. Robert Garcia, the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said in an X post Sunday.<\/p>\n
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie also called for Lutnick to resign.<\/p>\n
“So, he’s got a lot to answer for. But really, he should make life easier on the president, frankly, and just resign,” Massie told CNN Sunday.<\/p>\n
Lutnick did not respond to questions from ABC News prior to the hearing about those calls for him to step down.<\/p>\n
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Secretary Howard Lutnick arrives to testify before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, February 10, 2026.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nElizabeth Frantz\/Reuters<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHouse Speaker Mike Johnson voiced confidence in Lutnick, telling reporters Tuesday that bipartisan calls for his resignation are “absurd.”<\/p>\n
“Howard Lutnick is a great commerce secretary who’s done an extraordinary job for the country, and Thomas Massie should stop playing political games,” he said.<\/p>\n
Reporters pressed the speaker on whether he harbors any concerns about Lutnick given his ties to Epstein.<\/p>\n
“I don’t know anything about that. I know Howard as an individual, and I trust his word on it,” Johnson said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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