New York, February 11: U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has confirmed that he had lunch with his family on Jeffrey Epstein’s island in 2012. He made this admission during a Senate appropriations subcommittee hearing on Tuesday.
Lutnick stated, “I was traveling for a family vacation and we stopped on the island for about an hour for lunch. That is true.” However, he clarified that he had no personal relationship with Epstein, saying, “I had no relationship with that person. I had very little contact with him.”
Previously, Lutnick had claimed that he severed all ties with Epstein in 2005. However, recent files released by the U.S. Department of Justice in January indicated that contact between the two continued in the following years. Local media reports suggest there were even business transactions between them until 2014.
According to the Xinhua news agency, this revelation has intensified calls for Lutnick to resign, with both Democrats and some Republican leaders demanding his departure.
Jeffrey Epstein had pleaded guilty to state-level charges of soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2008. He was arrested again in July 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges but mysteriously died in jail on August 10, 2019, before the trial could begin.
In January of this year, the U.S. Justice Department began the process of releasing millions of records related to investigations and prosecutions involving Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. This action was taken under the ‘Epstein Files Transparency Act,’ signed by President Donald Trump on November 19, 2025.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanch reported that the department has released over three million pages of documents, more than 2,000 videos, and approximately 180,000 photographs, totaling nearly 3.5 million pages made public. He noted that over 500 lawyers and professionals from various departments, including the FBI, participated in this review, which was completed over about 75 days with daily meetings.
Bhupendra Singh Chundawat is a seasoned technology journalist with over 22 years of experience in the media industry. He specializes in covering the global technology landscape, with a deep focus on manufacturing trends and the geopolitical impact on tech companies. Currently serving as the Editor at Udaipur Kiran, his insights are shaped by decades of hands-on reporting and editorial leadership in the fast-evolving world of technology.