By David Lawder, Alexandra Alper and Courtney Rozen
WASHINGTON, Feb 10 (Reuters) – U.S. Commerce Department Secretary Howard Lutnick sought on Tuesday to distance himself from Jeffrey Epstein, alleging he “barely had anything to do with” the financier and convicted sex offender amid calls for his resignation over new revelations about their ties.
The Justice Department in January released millions of new files related to Epstein, including emails that showed Lutnick apparently visited Epstein’s private Caribbean island for lunch years after he claimed to have cut off ties. Lutnick, appointed to his post by Republican President Donald Trump last year, now faces calls from both Democrats and Republicans to resign.
Lutnick pushed back during a Senate hearing, telling lawmakers that the two men had exchanged only about 10 emails and met three times over 14 years. Lutnick said a lunch with Epstein took place only because he was on a boat near the island. Lutnick said his family was present for the lunch.
“I did not have any relationship with him. I barely had anything to do with that person,” Lutnick told a Senate panel under questioning by Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen.
Speaking at the White House later in the day, spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said Lutnick “remains a very important member of President’s Trump’s team, and the president fully supports the secretary.”
Lutnick is one of a host of powerful men in politics, business and entertainment, including Trump himself, who are under fire for their ties with Epstein, in a reflection of the elite circles Epstein inhabited. Lutnick also is in the hot seat over apparent contradictions between the newly released documents and his prior remarks about Epstein, who lived next door to the former Cantor Fitzgerald CEO in New York at the time.
Lutnick previously claimed he vowed never to “be in a room” with Epstein following a 2005 incident in which the financier showed Lutnick a massage table at his townhouse and made a sexually suggestive comment.
But in addition to the 2012 lunch, the emails showed that Epstein’s assistant forwarded him an invitation from Lutnick to a fundraiser in November 2015 at his financial firm for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Trump defeated Clinton in the 2016 U.S. election.
Lutnick on Tuesday did not address the apparent contradictions during his testimony, cited by Democratic Senator Adam Schiff in his call for Lutnick to step down.
Republican Representative Tom Massie told CNN on Sunday that Lutnick should “make life easier on the president, frankly, and just resign.”
“I know and my wife knows that I have done absolutely nothing wrong in any possible regard,” Lutnick said at the hearing.
Lutnick also noted that he had no knowledge of Epstein being interested in meeting his nanny.
The hearing was held a day after Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell refused to answer questions at a deposition before a U.S. House of Representatives panel, according to lawmakers, drawing criticism from Republican and Democratic members of the committee.
(Reporting by David Lawder, Alexandra Alper and Courtney Rozen; Additional Reporting by Andrea Shalal Writing by Alexandra Alper; Editing by Will Dunham and Nick Zieminski)
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