HUNT VALLEY, Md. (TNND) — Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick confirmed Tuesday he had lunch with Jeffrey Epstein on the financier’s private island.
Lutnick testified in a congressional hearing that his and another family dined with Epstein for an hour on Little Saint James during a 2012 vacation. Documents recently released by the Department of Justice (DOJ) suggest Epstein and Lutnick shared a meal.
“I did have lunch with him as I was on a boat going across on a family vacation,” the secretary said.
“My wife was with me, as were my four children and nannies. I had another couple with – they were there as well with their children, and we had lunch on the island. That is true. For an hour.”
Email exchanges released by the DOJ show Lutnick and the financier setting a date for lunch in December 2012. On Thursday the 20th, Lutnick wrote: “OK, lunch on Sunday. See you then.” Four days later, Epstein said, “Nice seeing you.”
Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat participating in the hearing, told Lutnick he misled the country on his relationship with Epstein. The secretary said in October that he hadn’t even been in the same room as the financier since meeting him in 2005.
Lutnick and Epstein were neighbors in New York City, where Epstein allegedly kept a massage table in the middle of his home. Lutnick said during the October podcast interview that the financier told him that he received “the right kind of massage” every day.
“And in the six or eight steps it takes to get from his house to my house, my wife and I decided that I will never be in the room with that disgusting person ever again,” Lutnick said. “So I was never in the room with him socially, for business or even philanthropy. That guy was there, I wasn’t going, ‘cause he’s gross.”
Van Hollen emphasized the contradictions in Lutnick’s account during the hearing, noting that the secretary also socialized with Epstein after the financier pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution in 2008.
“You realize that, you know, this visit took place after he had been convicted, right?” the senator asked. “I mean, 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.”
Lutnick said he didn’t know why he dined with Epstein on Little Saint James.
Have questions, concerns or tips? Send them to Ray at rjlewis@sbgtv.com.
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