U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick (R) gestures on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos on January 21, 2026.
Fabrice Coffrini | AFP | Getty Images
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie has called for Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to resign amid revelations that he had more extensive business and personal dealings with deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein than previously disclosed.
Mr. Massey’s comments came after The New York Times reported on Sunday that Mr. Lutnick interacted with Mr. Epstein “regularly,” according to files on the notorious sex offender released by the Justice Department. Massie, R-Kentucky, was the lead Republican on the Epstein File Transparency Act, which forced the release of the Epstein file.
“He should resign,” Massey told CNN’s “Inside Politics Sunday.”
“If you believe what’s in these files, Howard Lutnick clearly went to the island. He was doing business with Jeffrey Epstein, years after Jeffrey Epstein was convicted,” Massey said. “He has a lot to answer for, but frankly he should make life easier as president and step down now.”
Massey pointed out that several British officials have fallen from grace over their appearances in the Epstein file. Morgan McSweeney, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s chief of staff, resigned on Sunday over his role in the appointment of ousted US ambassador Peter Mandelson. Mandelson was also named in Epstein’s file.
Mr. Lutnick and Mr. Epstein’s dealings have come under increasing scrutiny because the files name dozens of public figures and were made public by the Justice Department after a law requiring their disclosure was signed into law. The former chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald told the podcast “Pod Force One” last year that he cut ties with Epstein after first meeting him in 2005.
But a Times analysis of Epstein’s files found that Mr. Lutnick and Mr. Epstein had been in contact for years, starting with their first meeting in 2005. It was previously reported that Mr. Epstein had invited Mr. Lutnick to a private island in the Caribbean and that Mr. Lutnick had been in contact with Mr. Epstein about construction work being done across the street from his home. The two had also been drinking together in 2011, according to the files.
The Times report also includes new details, including that Epstein’s lawyers obtained the resume of Lutnick’s nanny and that Epstein donated $50,000 to an event honoring Lutnick.
Epstein and Lutnick also invested in the now-defunct company AdFin Solutions, the Times reported.
A Commerce Department spokesperson told the Times that Mr. Lutnick and Mr. Epstein had “very limited interaction” and called the report “a failed attempt by traditional media to distract from the administration’s accomplishments.”
CNBC has reached out to the Commerce Department and the White House for a response to Massey’s comments.
