At a White House event last week, a reporter reminded Donald Trump about references to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in the latest batch of Jeffrey Epstein files. The president replied that he was confident the Cabinet secretary is “fine,” adding, “Otherwise, there would have been major headlines.”
Six days later, there are quite a few headlines coming to the fore. Politico reported on the bipartisan calls for Lutnick’s resignation.
Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) accused Lutnick in a statement Monday of having ‘lied’ about the extent of his connection to Epstein. Lutnick has sought to downplay their relationship, saying in a podcast appearance last year he vowed in 2005 to never again be in the same room as Epstein.
But files recently released by the Justice Department suggest he continued his interactions with Epstein, including planning a visit several years later to Epstein’s Caribbean island.
“Lutnick’s lies about his business dealings with a convicted child sex offender raise serious concerns about his judgement and ethics,” Schiff said. “Lutnick has no business being our Commerce Secretary, and he should resign immediately.”
One day earlier, Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who’s repeatedly broken with his party on matters related to Epstein, appeared on CNN’s “Inside Politics” and said, in reference to Lutnick, “He should just resign. I mean, there are three people in Great Britain that have resigned in politics. The ambassador from Great Britain to the United States, the prince lost his title for less than what we’ve seen Howard Lutnick lie about.”
The GOP congressman added, again in reference to the commerce secretary, “He’s got a lot to answer for. But really, he should make life easier on the president, frankly, and just resign. If this were Great Britain, he’d already be gone.”
On Monday morning, Democratic Rep. Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico said she and her colleagues on the House Oversight Committee “would like to speak to” Lutnick, though she quickly added, “I personally believe that Mr. Lutnick needs to step down immediately.”
At least for now, the Cabinet secretary’s job appears to be safe. A White House spokesperson said, in response to the criticisms, that the entirety of the administration, “including Secretary Lutnick and the Department of Commerce, remains focused on delivering for the American people.”
The statement suggests that Lutnick probably doesn’t have to start cleaning out his desk, at least not yet, though the political winds might shift if the president comes to see the commerce secretary as a political liability. The New York Times reported on the latest revelations, including evidence from the Justice Department records that showed Lutnick interacted with Epstein regularly over at least 13 years while they lived next door to each other in New York City. From the article:
They invested in the same privately held company together, dealt with one another on neighborhood and philanthropic issues, and appear to have socialized in New York and the Caribbean, the records show. Mr. Epstein at one point sought to meet with Mr. Lutnick’s nanny.
The records directly contradict Mr. Lutnick’s assertion on a podcast last year that he had been so disgusted by Mr. Epstein during a 2005 visit to his townhouse that Mr. Lutnick had never set foot in a room with Mr. Epstein again.
These strike me as “major headlines,” though the president’s mileage may vary. Watch this space.
