U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick disclosed multiple meetings with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein during congressional testimony Tuesday.
Speaking before a Senate committee, Lutnick acknowledged several emails as well as meetings with the convicted sex offender, including a visit to Epstein's private island in 2012 with his family. He said they had lunch there. The admission appeared to contradict earlier statements.
Lutnick had said in a podcast last year that he decided in 2005 never to be in the same room again with Epstein, whom he called a "disgusting person." However, the newly acknowledged island visit took place in 2012, several years after Epstein's 2008 conviction.
Lutnick told senators that he had had little to do with Epstein. Before entering government, he had been Epstein's neighbor in New York.
Lawmakers also raised questions about a reference suggesting that Epstein wanted to meet Lutnick's nanny. Lutnick said he did not know what that was about and added that it "had nothing to do with me."
