Epstein Subpoena For Trump’s Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick ‘Very Possible’, Republicans Say

Republican lawmakers main the congressional investigation into the late intercourse trafficker Jeffrey Epstein are signaling that they may subpoena U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick over his ties to Epstein.

Lutnick, a long-time ally of President Donald Trump and former CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, has confronted intense scrutiny after the latest launch of thousands and thousands of pages of paperwork from the Justice Division’s Epstein Recordsdata, which have been made public underneath the Epstein Recordsdata Transparency Act of 2025.

These data revealed further encounters between Lutnick and Epstein, together with a 2012 lunch on Epstein’s non-public island, contradicting earlier statements during which Lutnick mentioned he severed ties with the convicted intercourse trafficker in 2005. Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer (R-KY) advised reporters that it’s “very potential” Lutnick could possibly be requested to seem earlier than Congress to reply questions on what he knew and when he knew it.

Democrats on the committee have additionally urged Comer to subpoena Lutnick and for Lutnick to resign from his publish as Commerce Secretary. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) advised CBS Information that “We now have requested Jamie Comer to usher in Howard Lutnick and now we have but had no response.”

In an announcement earlier this month, California Senator Adam Schiff issued an announcement calling for Lutnick to resign, stating, “For months he is claimed to have spent ‘zero time’ with him. Now, within the Epstein Recordsdata, we be taught that the 2 have been in enterprise collectively years after Epstein was first convicted, with Lutnick even planning to go to Epstein’s non-public island.”

Trump himself acknowledged that he “wasn’t conscious” of Lutnick’s go to to Epstein’s island. He added that “I really have not spoken to him about it, however from what I hear he was there together with his spouse and kids and I suppose in some circumstances some folks have been. I wasn’t. I used to be by no means there. Any person will sometime say that. I used to be by no means there.”

Lutnick, one of many wealthiest members of Trump’s cupboard, has sought to blunt criticism, denying any improper relationship with Epstein and asserting that his interactions have been restricted. He advised the Senate panel that he had “nothing to cover” and maintained he had “barely something to do with that particular person.”

White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt beforehand mentioned the president “absolutely helps” Lutnick and views him as a “useful member of his staff.” Throughout his testimony earlier this week, he confronted calls to resign from his publish as Commerce Secretary. Republican Senator Thomas Massie of Kentucky advised CNN that Lutnick ought to “make life simpler on the president, frankly, and simply resign,” and that he has “quite a bit to reply for.”