GOP oversight head floats subpoena for Trump commerce secretary over Epstein

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick faces bipartisan calls for his resignation after new disclosures of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s files revealed previously-undisclosed close ties between the two men.

Lutnick should "make life easier on the president, frankly, and just resign,” said Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., in a comment to CNN on Monday. The previous day, Massie urged Lutnick’s resignation by referencing recent resignations in the British government that have occurred due to the Epstein scandal.

“There are three people in Great Britain that have resigned in politics,” Massie said. “The ambassador from Great Britain to the United States, the prince lost his title for less than what we’ve seen Howard Lutnick lie about.” Massie was referring to the British government firing Peter Mandelson from his US ambassadorship and stripping Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s title as a prince, as both were named in the Epstein files.

House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.), who is leading that chamber's investigation into Epstein and has already subpoenaed multiple associates, also indicated a potential cooling between Republicans in Congress and their party’s own Commerce Secretary. Comer said that he might issue a subpoena for Lutnick, although he qualified that he is currently focusing on outstanding subpoenas.

“We’re interested in talking to anyone that might have any information that would help us get justice for the survivors,” Comer told reporters Monday.

A number of Democrats have also called for Lutnick to step down. Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the party’s Ranking Member on the Oversight Committee, stated that “it’s now clear that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has been lying about his relationship with Epstein. He said he had no interactions with Epstein after 2005, yet we now know they were in business together." Another Democrat on the Oversight Committee, Rep. Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico, told reporters on the Hill that “the committee is keeping an ongoing list of individuals we would like to subpoena …”

Stansbury added, “Of course we would like to speak to Secretary Lutnick, and I personally believe that Mr. Lutnick needs to step down immediately.” One of Garcia’s and Stansbury’s Democratic counterparts in the Senate was even harsher in his language.

“Dear @howardlutnick: You could have remained silent about the Epstein files. Instead, you went on national TV and lied to the American people,” said Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Calif. “You were despicable then for planning a visit to Epstein island, and you are despicable now for brazenly lying. You should resign."

In October, Lutnick told The New York Post’s Miranda Devine that although he had been acquainted with Epstein, he stopped seeing him in 2005 because he and his wife were “disgusted” by his behavior and had spent “zero time” with him after visiting his house.

"In the six to eight steps it takes to get from his house to my house, my wife and I decided that I will never be in the room with that disgusting person ever again," Lutnick told The New York Post at the time, describing an incident in which Epstein allegedly stood very close to him and suggested he get a sexual massage.

Despite this account, the files revealed that in 2012 Lutnick and Epstein purchased stakes as partners in a now-defunct digital advertising company Adfin. Four days earlier, at Lutnick’s initiation, the two men socialized at Epstein’s private Little Saint James Island residence, where Lutnick stayed throughout the Christmas vacation that year.