Overview
- Lutnick, who appeared Thursday before the House Appropriations Committee to discuss the budget, declined to answer questions about Jeffrey Epstein and said he would address them in a separate House Oversight session.
- Democrats including Reps. Madeleine Dean and Grace Meng pressed him on discrepancies, saying he misled the public about cutting contact with Epstein after 2005.
- Lawmakers pointed to reports that he visited Epstein’s private island in 2012 and then entered a co‑investor deal with him in the digital ad company AdFin days later.
- Emails described at the hearing indicated he discussed the AdFin venture with Epstein as late as 2018, undercutting his earlier account of no later contact.
- The Trump administration has not removed him as he prepares for further questioning expected in May, and Dean also raised a report about his sons profiting from tariff refund rights that Lutnick denied.