Following closed-door testimony fromHoward Lutnickbefore the House oversight committee on his ties toJeffrey Epstein, Democrats called the commerce secretary’s performance “embarrassing”.
“IfDonald Trumphad seen the video transcript, he would have fired Howard Lutnick,”said congressmanRo Khanna, a progressive Democrat from California.
Lawmakers pointed to alleged inconsistencies between Lutnick’s previous comments on podcasts that he stopped associating with the late sex offender after 2005.
The justice department’s release of case files showed that Lutnick had two engagements with Epstein years past that. He attended a 2011 event at Epstein’s home. And Lutnick’s family had lunch with Epstein on his private island in 2012 – four years after Epstein was sentenced to 13 months in jail for procuring a minor for prostitution.
Lutnickadmitted to the 2012 lunchduring his 10 February testimony before the Senate appropriations committee. “I did have lunch with him, as I was on a boat going across on a family vacation,” Lutnick said. In that testimony, Lutnick also insisted that he “barely had anything to do” with Epstein.
According toSuhas Subramanyam,a Democratic representative of Virginia, the commerce secretary said“he could remember nothing about the visit to the island. Couldn’t remember why he was there. Couldn’t remember anything he saw.”
Oversight Democrats also said that Lutnick did not answer their questions about whether he spoke with Donald Trump ahead of giving testimony before the panel today.
“I feel very comfortable saying that Howard Lutnick is a pathological liar who is enabling the most egregious cover-up in American history,”congresswoman Yassamin Ansari told reporters, while noting that the commerce secretary told lawmakers it was “inexplicable” that he visited Epstein’s private island.Lutnick described his encounters with Epstein as “meaningless and inconsequential,” Ansari added.
Here is a recap of today’s politics blog:
Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged suicide note was released Wednesday.A federal judge has unsealed an alleged suicide note by Jeffrey Epstein, the first time the document has been made public.
The Trump administration has claimed that migration has made Europe an “incubator” for terrorism, according to a recently published report on counter-terrorism strategies. The administration will focus counter-terrorism efforts on drug cartels.
Republican politicians in Tennessee released a new congressional voting map that could go into effect before the midterm elections this November.The proposed map would eliminate the state’s only Democratic-controlled district by carving up a majority-Black voting bloc based in Memphis.
More information was released on the suspect charged in connection to Monday’s shooting nearJD Vance’s motorcade.The Texas man accused of firing a gun at law enforcement officers near the Washington monument this week was walking along the path ofJD Vance’s motorcade before the shooting and made a vulgar remark about the White House after the confrontation, according to a court filing on Wednesday.
The FBI’s director, Kash Patel, has allegedly given out customized bottles of bourbon at events, including ones where he is working in a official capacity,according to a report from the Atlantic.
Donald Trump will be hosting the Brazilian president,Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, for a visit, a White House source confirmed to the Guardian.Trump and Lula, who was elected in 2023, will discuss “economic and security matters of shared importance”, the source said. The meeting is expected to take place this Thursday.
