One member of President Donald Trump's Cabinet apparently sought to travel to convicted child predator Jeffrey Epstein's private island, according to a newly released document.
The New York Times reported Friday that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick sent an email to Epstein in 2012, telling him that he and his family were going to be in the Caribbean and asking if they could meet for lunch. Epstein responded through an assistant, who gave Lutnick information about Epstein's "Little Saint James Island" in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Lutnick told the Times he "spent zero time with [Epstein]" and hung up on reporters when contacted, though according to the outlet, Lutnick and Epstein eventually ended up meeting on December 23, 2012. Lutnick's visit to Little Saint James Island had not been previously reported.
The eventual commerce secretary's meeting with the convicted sex trafficker took place despite Lutnick claiming that he cut off all ties with Epstein in 2005. While speaking to the New York Post's Miranda Devine last year, Lutnick recalled meeting with Epstein at his New York City town house in 2005, and called him "the greatest blackmailer ever." He claimed that he and his wife were so repulsed by Epstein that they both vowed to banish him from their lives.
"[I]n 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 said in October.
According to the Times, Epstein re-initiated contact with Lutnick through an assistant in November 2012, who reached out via email and wrote: "Jeffrey requested I please pass along some phone numbers to you so the two of you can possibly get together." Lutnick's wife, Allison, reportedly told the assistant they would be arriving to Little Saint James Island on board a 188-foot yacht called "Excellence."
Lutnick and Epstein remained in touch after the 2012 meeting. The Times reported that Epstein contributed to a charity dinner honoring Lutnick in 2017, and the two emailed back and forth in 2018 discussing ways to halt a proposed construction project for a museum located in proximity to their Manhattan homes.