Howard Lutnick said he had three ‘meaningless and inconsequential’ meetings with Epstein | Trump administration

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told lawmakers in a closed-door interview earlier this month that he had only met with Jeffrey Epstein three times and had no “personal or professional relationship” with the disgraced financier, according to a newly released transcript of the meeting.

“I unequivocally condemn the conduct attributed to Jeffrey Epstein and anyone who participated in his illegal activities,” Lutnick said in his opening statement before the House oversight and reform committee.

The comments came during a closed-door interview before the House oversight and reform committee earlier this month; During that interview, lawmakers questioned Lutnick for several hours about his past statements about his previous ties and interactions with Epstein.

according to deciphered text, Announced Wednesday afternoon, Lutnick said he had only met Epstein three times, who he said lived “next door to my house in New York City.” Lutnick said the first meeting took place in 2005, when he and his wife were invited to Epstein’s home for coffee. The second occurred in 2011, when she said she briefly visited Epstein’s home to discuss the “pier,” and the third, according to Lutnick, was in 2012, when Epstein invited her, family and friends to lunch on his private island.

“Those were the only three occasions, in my recollection, where I personally interacted with Epstein,” Lutnick said. “Each one was meaningless and unimportant.”

“Although our addresses are close, I have no personal or professional relationship with this person,” he added. “Furthermore, at no time during these limited interactions did I witness any behavior, let alone the type of illegal behavior that we have since become aware of.”

Lutnick we agreed In March, he was about to take part in a written hearing with the committee after the justice department released millions of documents related to Epstein; these included documents showing that Lutnick continued to correspond with Epstein after the underage financier was convicted in 2008 of soliciting prostitution from a minor. The statement also contradicted Lutnick’s claim in a podcast last year that he and his wife cut ties with Epstein after he visited his home in 2005.

Epstein died in 2019 in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.

Much of the questioning before the House focused on Lutnick’s podcast interview last year.

Lutnick described to deputies his visit to Epstein’s home in 2005, saying that Epstein gave him and his wife a tour of the townhouse and at one point opened a door and found a massage table there.

Lutnick said he asked Epstein why he had “a massage table in the middle of his house” and how often he got a massage, to which Epstein replied “every day and the right kind of massage.”

“He said this to me and my wife was standing next to me, we looked at each other and separated,” Lutnick told lawmakers, adding that he interpreted the “right type of massage” as “somewhat sexual in nature.”

He later said that he and his wife left Epstein’s home and “discussed whether I would pursue a personal or professional relationship with that person.” “I described this conversation informally in a podcast in October 2025,” he added.

Democratic lawmakers pushed back against her statements, noting that Lutnick said on the podcast that after 2005 he was “never in the same room with her socially, for work, or even philanthropically.”

“What I mean is true, which is that I, Howard Lutnick, as a man, I wouldn’t be in the same situation as him because I felt like he was obnoxious and inappropriate and had no boundaries; I wouldn’t put myself in the same room with him socially, which I haven’t done professionally, I haven’t done in business, and I haven’t done it philanthropically,” Lutnick said.

He also described the lunch held on Epstein’s island in 2012, saying that Epstein’s staff realized that he and his family would be near his island during the holidays and reached out to them and invited them to lunch.

Lutnick said he went with his wife, his four children, his friends who were couples, their four children and their employees, and left after having a “short, meaningless and insignificant lunch.”

“So probably 15, 16 people went to lunch,” Lutnick said. “We sat outside and had lunch. It was boring. We left.”

He said he did not see any young women or girls on the island.

Asked if he had heard any rumors about the candidate, Lutnick said, “No, of course not,” adding: “We all learned a lot of information in 2019, but we didn’t learn anything until then.” referring to when Epstein was indicted.

Discussing the 2011 interaction, Lutnick said his office was contacted by Epstein’s staff and that Epstein said he wanted to contact him.

“Our offices attempted to contact us by phone for several weeks but were unable to do so,” he said. He said he then went to Epstein’s house, “sat at the entrance with my dog, waited for him to come down, listened to what he had to say and left.”

“From what I remember, it was about the pier,” he said. “It was pointless and unimportant.”

Throughout last week’s interview, Lutnick said he never witnessed Epstein having any type of sexual intercourse with any young women or girls or receiving massages from young women, and said he never met or met any young women or girls at Epstein’s home or on his island.

Following last week’s interview with Lutnick, Democrats on the committee criticized Lutnick’s performance.

“We now know why this interview was not recorded on video. If Donald Trump had seen the transcript of the video, he would have fired Howard Lutnick.” in question California’s Democratic congressman Ro Khanna led efforts in Congress to push for the release of the Justice Department’s files on Epstein. “It was just distortions and lies… He made a comedy about the English language.”

In contrast, Republican James Comer, who chairs the House committee, said he felt Lutnick had been “very transparent” and “came here voluntarily” and said Lutnick had corrected his previous statements in an interview on Wednesday.

Since the release of the Epstein files, Lutnick has faced calls from some lawmakers to resign over his former ties to Epstein.

Lutnick was the first Trump administration official to testify before the panel. The committee also issued a subpoena to Pam Bondi ahead of Trump’s firing as attorney general last month. He is scheduled to appear before the committee on May 29.