U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick testifies during a hearing of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Judiciary, Science, and Related Agencies on February 10, 2026 in Washington, DC. Lutnick is facing bipartisan calls for his resignation following revelations in the latest release of the Epstein files.
Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images News | Getty Images
House Democrats on Thursday called for the resignation of Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, accusing him of lying publicly about his relationship with notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and refusing to “come clean” in a subsequent private conference.
“The facts are clear: You publicly lied to the American people and attempted to cover up your relationship with Jeffrey Epstein,” the Democratic minority on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee said in a letter to Lutnick.
“Your lack of candor shows that you are unfit to perform the duties required of you as Secretary of Commerce, and you must resign immediately,” the letter, signed by all 21 Democrats on the committee, said.
Mr. Lutnick claimed in an interview last year that after visiting Mr. Epstein’s Manhattan mansion in 2005, shortly after he moved in next door, he “decided never to room with that asshole again.”
“So I was never in a room with him, socially, business-wise, philanthropic-wise,” Lutnick said in that interview. “If that guy was there, I wouldn’t have gone because he’s disgusting.”
But years later, after the Justice Department’s release of Epstein files revealed their continued relationship, Lutnick admitted in a Senate hearing that he and his family had lunch on the disgraced investor’s private island in 2012.
Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to state-level charges of soliciting a minor into prostitution and was required to register as a sex offender. He died in a New York City jail in 2019 while facing federal sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.
Democrats wrote in a letter Thursday that Lutnick’s claims in the 2025 interview are “patently false.”
“During your recorded interview, you were presented with clear evidence that you corresponded with and physically met with Epstein on multiple occasions prior to his arrest in 2019,” they wrote.
“Despite being given the opportunity to come clean” during the interview, the lawmakers wrote, “they instead proposed implausible distinctions and semantic games.”
A Commerce Department spokesperson said in a statement to CNBC that the letter is “another failed attempt by Congressional Democrats to distract from Secretary Lutnick’s historic work at the Department of Commerce.”
“Secretary Lutnick, who voluntarily attended the Oversight Committee, answered approximately 400 questions from members and staff, concluding only when members responded that they had no further questions to ask,” the spokesperson said.
“He repeatedly explained that the three encounters did not constitute a relationship, and the committee adjourned without identifying any evidence to the contrary. Calls for his resignation are baseless and politically motivated.”
The White House announced in February that President Donald Trump would continue to support Lutnick, who has come under scrutiny over his past friendship with Epstein.
Lutnick testified privately before the House Oversight Committee on May 6. He told the committee that he agreed to appear after Rep. Nancy Mace (RS.C.) said she would issue a bipartisan subpoena to compel him to testify, but said he was participating voluntarily.
Mr. Lutnick said he recalled meeting Mr. Epstein three times, including interactions in 2005 and 2012, according to a transcript of the interview.
Mr. Lutnick said that Mr. Epstein’s staff contacted him in 2011 “suggesting that they might have a reason to contact me.” The secretary said Lutnick planned to ring Epstein’s doorbell on Sunday afternoon “to listen” while he was walking his wife and dog.
“My fondest memory is ringing the bell, sitting on his front porch with the dog, waiting for him to come down, listening to him and walking away. As far as I can remember, it was about scaffolding. It was pointless and insignificant,” he told the committee.
In response to questioning, Lutnick denied being misled about his relationship with Epstein, insisting there was a critical difference between using the words “I” and “we.”
“I was accurate. I think I explained it accurately. I don’t want to be corrected in any way. I didn’t room with him socially, but I wasn’t. It was for business, and I wasn’t. It was for charity, and I wasn’t.” So I believe what I said was accurate, and I still believe it. That’s why I said ‘we’ will never say never.’ he said.
The questioner replied, “We all understand that you were in the room with him at a social gathering, but you claimed this sentence to be accurate. So I just, on the face of it, it doesn’t make sense.”
Lutnick later said, “I wasn’t with him. I mean, there was never a situation where I was with him. I was with his wife. And those were meaningless and inconsequential. But in context, so people can understand, I don’t know any other way. “I, Howard Lutnick, have never been in that situation, so you can’t take that out of context. I wasn’t with him.”
“No sane person would accept this explanation,” the Democrat wrote Thursday.
“A minister’s most basic duty to Congress is candor. What you say affects the lives of all Americans. You used your parliamentary interview not to correct the record, but to perpetuate a false public narrative,” they wrote.
“You contradicted everything you’ve said and interrupted with basic questions. A Secretary who parses plain English to avoid acknowledging his own words, claims no documented recollection of a convicted sex offender’s visit to a private island, and refuses to answer basic questions about his conversations with the president cannot be trusted to lead the federal government.”
“We therefore ask you to immediately resign as Secretary of Commerce,” they wrote.
