Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) told reporters on Wednesday that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was not \u201c100% truthful\u201d about his past relationship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.<\/p>\n
Lutnick arrived on Capitol Hill Wednesday morning for a closed-door deposition before the Oversight Committee to answer questions on his relationship with Epstein. Before the deposition began, Comer took questions from reporters and said the Commerce secretary has not been fully honest in some of his past statements on Epstein.<\/p>\n
Lutnick claimed last year that he vowed never to go near Epstein after a strange encounter with the financier in 2005. Photos released by the Justice Department in its trove of Epstein documents, however, show Lutnick with the disgraced financier on his infamous private island in 2012 \u2014 four years after Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll let the American people judge whether the credibility was damaged,\u201d Comer said<\/a> before the Oversight Committee hearing began. \u201cBut at the end of the day, I haven\u2019t seen wrongdoing in the email correspondence. But he wasn\u2019t 100% truthful with whether or not he had been on the island.\u201d<\/p>\n Credit: Justice Department<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Comer added that the Oversight Committee would ask Lutnick more questions about his visit to Little Saint James.<\/p>\n \u201cWe haven\u2019t talked to too many people that have admitted they\u2019ve been on the island,\u201d he said<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s my understanding he wasn\u2019t on the island very long. He was there with his wife and kids, but we\u2019ll see what he says.\u201d<\/p>\n The Oversight Committee chairman promised to release the full transcript of Lutnick\u2019s deposition in the coming days.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2026\/03\/Untitled-design-2026-03-03T151929.602-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/p>\n