Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick retreated from his earlier assertion that convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein engaged in blackmail, telling House lawmakers during a transcribed interview that he had no firsthand knowledge and was merely speculating. The shift came as the House Oversight Committee released transcripts from its interview with Lutnick and a separate session with Tedd Waitt, a former boyfriend of Epstein confidant Ghislaine Maxwell.
Lutnick, who has been a fixture in President Donald Trump’s inner circle for years, initially made the blackmail claim in a podcast last year. But under questioning from the committee, he acknowledged: “I had no personal information. I was just speculating for a podcast.” He characterized two other encounters with Epstein after 2005 as “meaningless and inconsequential.”
The commerce secretary’s relationship with Epstein dates back to when they were neighbors in New York City. In 2005, Lutnick and his wife toured Epstein’s townhouse, where Epstein showed them a massage table and made a sexual innuendo. Lutnick told lawmakers that after that incident, he and his wife decided to “just avoid him.” Yet records show Lutnick later met Epstein at least twice and exchanged emails over several years, including a 2013 joint investment in a business venture. Lutnick said he was unaware Epstein was also an investor until the case files were released months ago.
One meeting took place in 2012, when Lutnick was on a family vacation in the Caribbean. Epstein’s staff invited them to lunch on his private island. “We sat outside, had lunch. It was boring. We left,” Lutnick told the committee. Another brief encounter occurred in 2011, when Lutnick visited Epstein’s home to discuss scaffolding installation. He described that meeting as “meaningless and inconsequential.” Democrats pressed Lutnick to explain why he would meet Epstein after vowing to avoid him. Lutnick said he could not recall why his family accepted the island invitation.
The interview came after the release of Epstein case files that contradicted Lutnick’s earlier portrayal of his interactions. Lutnick is the highest-ranking current administration official—aside from President Trump—named in those files. Trump has consistently denied any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes and said he ended their relationship years ago.
Democrats on the committee were sharply critical of Lutnick’s testimony, calling it evasive and dishonest. Representative Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, posted on social media shortly after the interview: “If a Cabinet Secretary lies to the American public, they should no longer serve in that position. Mr. Lutnick should resign or be fired.” The White House has stood by Lutnick.
The committee also released a transcript of an interview with Tedd Waitt, cofounder of Gateway computers, who dated Ghislaine Maxwell in the early 2000s. Waitt told lawmakers he was unaware at the time that either Epstein or Maxwell was committing sexual abuse. He described meeting Epstein only a handful of times, each “very brief and unintentional,” and said he never visited Epstein’s home, flew on his planes, or went to his private island. Waitt found Epstein “somewhat arrogant” and “off-putting.”
The hearings come amid broader congressional scrutiny of Epstein’s network and associates. House GOP Chair James Comer has also summoned former JPMorgan executive Jes Staley over his ties to Epstein. The transcript release keeps the pressure on the administration as Democrats demand accountability for Lutnick’s shifting statements.
