National Economic Director Kevin Hassett on Wednesday voiced support for Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick amid new questions about his ties with deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Speaking with reporters at the White House, Mr. Hassett said he was “very comfortable” working with Mr. Lutnick after the Commerce secretary confirmed his ties to Epstein were deeper than he had originally acknowledged.
“Secretary Lutnick is one of my best friends in the whole wide world, so I’m very comfortable working with him,” Mr. Hassett said.
During testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday, Mr. Lutnick confirmed that he and his family had lunch with Epstein on the disgraced financier’s Caribbean island in 2012, despite previously insisting they did not have a relationship.
“I did have lunch with him, as I was on a boat going across on a family vacation. My wife was with me, as were my four children and nannies,” Mr. Lutnick said. “We had lunch on the island, that is true, for an hour, and we left with all of my children with my nannies and my wife … I don’t recall why we did it.”
However, Mr. Lutnick denied that he had deep ties with Epstein, whom he met when they lived in neighboring houses in New York.
“Of these millions and millions of documents, there may be 10 emails connecting me with him… over a 14-year period,” Mr. Lutnick told senators. “I did not have any relationship with him. I barely had anything to do with that person.”
Mr. Lutnick’s comments also appear to contradict an interview he did last year with the New York Post’s “Pod Force One.” He said in the interview that after a 2005 encounter at Epstein’s home, he grew uncomfortable and vowed that he would “never be in the room with that disgusting person again.”
He said that upon noticing a massage table in the room, Epstein told him that he gets a massage every day, describing it as “the right kind of massage.”
After that 2005 interaction, Mr. Lutnick said he was “never” in the room with Epstein, either “socially for business or even philanthropy. If that guy was there, I wasn’t going, because he’s gross.”
Democrats on the committee accused Mr. Lutnick of lying about his ties to Epstein. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, Maryland Democrat, said Mr. Lutnick “misled the American public, the survivors, the Congress.”
On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the Commerce secretary’s job was secure.
“Secretary Lutnick remains a very important member of President Trump’s team, and the president fully supports the secretary,” Ms. Leavitt told reporters.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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