After newly launched recordsdata from the Justice Division revealed ties between the late intercourse trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, calls from either side of the aisle for his rapid resignation have intensified.
The newest scrutiny stems from a rolling launch of federal “Epstein recordsdata” mandated by laws handed by Congress and signed into regulation because the Epstein Information Transparency Act, with the Justice Division publishing giant new tranches in latest weeks because it opinions materials for privacy-related redactions.
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, a co-author of the regulation that compelled the disclosures, has been among the many loudest voices calling for Lutnick to step apart. In a CNN interview aired Sunday, Massie stated Lutnick ought to resign relatively than testify, arguing the Commerce secretary had “rather a lot to reply for” in mild of the newly launched information.
Democrats shortly seized on the identical paperwork. Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the highest Democrat on the Home Oversight Committee, accused Lutnick of deceptive the general public in regards to the extent of his relationship with Epstein and stated the secretary ought to resign or be dismissed.
It’s now clear that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has been mendacity about his relationship with Epstein. He stated he had no interactions with Epstein after 2005, but we now know they had been in enterprise collectively.
Lutnick should resign or be fired. And he should reply our questions.
— Congressman Robert Garcia (@RepRobertGarcia) February 8, 2026
On the coronary heart of the controversy are information suggesting continued contacts and enterprise overlap years after Epstein’s 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor. Lutnick’s previous public description of a 2005 encounter with Epstein that he stated led him to swear off being in the identical room with him once more is contradicted by paperwork exhibiting later communications and obvious enterprise exercise.
CBS Information reported that paperwork launched by the Justice Division present Lutnick and Epstein had been each signatories, by way of restricted legal responsibility firms, on a December 2012 settlement to accumulate stakes in Adfin, an advertising-technology firm that later shuttered.
Worldwide Enterprise Occasions has reached out to Lutnick for touch upon the information and alleged enterprise dealings.
The reporting additionally described e mail exchanges indicating that Lutnick deliberate a household go to to Epstein’s non-public island, Little St. James, in December 2012, and later obtained a message relayed by Epstein’s assistant that stated, “good seeing you,” implying at the least one in-person assembly round that interval.
Bloomberg, citing the DOJ supplies, individually reported that Lutnick requested Epstein in a December 2012 e mail whether or not a go to to Epstein’s island could be doable throughout a Caribbean journey. Nevertheless, Lutnick has not been accused of wrongdoing in reference to Epstein’s crimes.
The Commerce Division has pushed again, portraying the protection as a politically motivated distraction. In an announcement quoted by CBS Information, a division spokesperson stated the matter was an try by “legacy media” to divert consideration from the administration’s agenda, including that Lutnick had “restricted interactions” with Epstein, within the presence of his spouse, and “has by no means been accused of wrongdoing.”
It stays unclear what, if something, Congress will do subsequent. CNN reported that Home Oversight Chair James Comer didn’t sign an urge for food to compel Lutnick’s testimony, whereas acknowledging public accounts that Lutnick visited an Epstein property along with his spouse and youngsters.
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