Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick admitted on Tuesday that he had lunch with Jeffrey Epstein years after he had mentioned he had minimize off contact with the disgraced financier.
In testimony earlier than the Senate Appropriations Committee, Lutnick mentioned he had lunch with Epstein in 2012 on Epstein’s island. Lutnick beforehand had mentioned that he had cutoff all contact with Epstein in 2005, three years earlier than Epstein’s conviction for soliciting a minor for prostitution.
“I did have lunch with him, as I used to be on a ship going throughout on a household trip,” Lutnick mentioned in accordance to CNBC. “My spouse was with me, as had been my 4 youngsters and nannies,” he mentioned. “I had one other couple with — they had been there as nicely, with their youngsters. And we had lunch on the island, that’s true, for an hour.”
Epstein killed himself in jail in 2019 whereas awaiting trial on intercourse trafficking expenses. Epstein’s main confederate and former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, was convicted of intercourse trafficking and is serving a 20-year-sentence.
The 2019 indictment alleged that Epstein sexually exploited and abused dozens of underage women by attractive them to interact in intercourse acts with him in alternate for cash. The federal government alleged on the time that Epstein labored with others to be certain that he had a gradual provide of minor victims. Maxwell was thought of to be his main confederate.
Lutnick has confronted scrutiny for the reason that launch of three.5 million paperwork associated to the Epstein case had been made public final week. The paperwork appeared to reveal a extra intensive relationship between Lutnick and Epstein than had beforehand been disclosed, main to requires his resignation by Republicans and Democrats.
CBS Information reported that paperwork launched by the Justice Division present Lutnick and Epstein had been each signatories, by way of restricted legal responsibility corporations, on a December 2012 settlement to purchase stakes in Adfin, an advertising-technology firm that later shuttered.
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