Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick will be questioned under oath about his association with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, House lawmakers said Tuesday.
Mr. Lutnick agreed to appear voluntarily before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which is investigating Epstein’s sex trafficking operation and those who were involved.
In a statement Tuesday, Oversight Chairman James Comer, Kentucky Republican, praised Mr. Lutnick for agreeing to testify.
“I commend his demonstrated commitment to transparency and appreciate his willingness to engage with the Committee. I look forward to his testimony,” Mr. Comer said.
No date has been set for the deposition.
Mr. Lutnick’s deposition follows closed-door testimony last week from former President Bill Clinton, a onetime associate of Epstein, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Mr. Lutnick, who headed the brokerage firm Cantor Fitzgerald and is a former Democrat, exchanged emails and held meetings with Epstein before and after Epstein was convicted in 2008 of soliciting prostitution from an underage girl.
Lawmakers sought Mr. Lutnick’s testimony after newly publicized Justice Department files showed he visited Epstein’s Little St. James island in 2012.
The visit counters Mr. Lutnick’s earlier claim that he cut off ties with Epstein in 2005.
Lutnick has already been grilled about the discrepancy in recent public congressional testimony.
In February, he told lawmakers he barely knew Epstein and was on the island for an hour during a 2012 family vacation.
He said he did not remember why his family stopped on the island, which later became known as one of the locations where Epstein’s sex crimes took place.
One of the many photographs released in the Epstein files shows Mr. Lutnick with Epstein in a coastal area that appears to be Epstein’s private island.
After an hourlong lunch, Mr. Lutnick told Congress, “we left with all of my children, with my nannies and my wife all together.”
The two men conversed as late as 2018 via email, discussing a shared business interest and a construction project. They were once neighbors in New York City.
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
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