Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick downplayed three in-person encounters he said he had with Jeffrey Epstein over the years, telling the House Oversight Committee in a closed-door interview last week that his interactions with the convicted late sex offender were “virtually nonexistent,” according to a transcript released Thursday.
The comments came during a voluntary interview Lutnick gave to congressional investigators last week following revelations that his contact with Epstein extended years beyond what he initially claimed in public.
In his lifetime, Lutnick testified that he interacted with Epstein in 2005, 2011 and, perhaps most controversially, at a 2012 lunch on Epstein’s island. Those later contacts, which were revealed in files released by the Justice Department, undercut his prior assertion that he had cut ties with Epstein in 2005, even though Lutnick tried to argue his previous statement still holds. Epstein had pleaded guilty to sex crimes in 2008.
“To the best of my recollection, those were the only three occasions in which I interacted with Epstein in person. Each and every one was meaningless and inconsequential. I had no personal or professional relationship with this individual, despite the proximity of our addresses. Further, at no time during these limited interactions did I witness any conduct, let alone the type of illegal conduct of which we have since become aware,” Lutnick testified.
