'Just resign!': GOP lawmaker takes fight to Trump Cabinet member over Epstein ties

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) took to CNN Sunday to demand Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick resign after being exposed for lying about his relationship with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Last year Howard Lutnick, a finance industry billionaire and longtime ally of President Donald Trump, told the New York Post that he cut off all ties with Epstein – then his neighbor in New York City, New York – after a disturbing encounter in 2005. Select documents and emails released by the Justice Department last month, however, directly contradict Lutnick’s version of events.

“Should he come before Congress and testify?” CNN’s Manu Raju asked Massie Sunday morning.

“No, he should just resign!” Massie fired back.

Among the files released by the DOJ are emails that show Lutnick made arrangements in 2012 to visit Epstein’s private island. Other files reveal that Lutnick and Epstein were in business together as recently as 2014, and that the two maintained contact through at least 2018.

“There are three people in Great Britain that have resigned in politics; the ambassador from Great Britain to the United States, the prince lost his title, [and] for less than what we've seen Howard Lutnick lie about,” Massie continued.

“Howard Lutnick clearly went to the island if we believe what's in these files, he was in business with Jeffrey Epstein, and this was many years after Epstein was convicted for sexual crimes! So he's got a lot to answer for, but really, he should make life easier on the president and just resign. If this were Great Britain he'd already be gone.”

Lutnick has not addressed the revelations directly, but a Commerce Department spokesperson issued a statement declaring that Lutnick has “never been accused of wrongdoing. That spokesperson also lashed out at the media for covering the revelations about Lutnick and his relationship with the convicted child sex offender.

“This is nothing more than a failing attempt by the legacy media to distract from the administration's accomplishments including securing trillions of dollars in investment, delivering historic trade deals and fighting for the American worker,” the spokesperson told CBS News.