Republicans not ruling out a subpoena for Lutnick in Epstein investigation
House Oversight Chair James Comer is not ruling out slapping Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick with a subpoena to testify as part of the panel’s investigation into the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“That’s very possible,” the Kentucky Republican told reporters Thursday morning as members of the committee headed inside a performing arts center in Chappaqua, New York, for daylong grilling of Hillary Clinton.
The former secretary of State is testifying about interactions she may have had with Epstein or his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who is now serving 20-years in prison for her part in the late financier’s sex trafficking scheme.
“I think it’s a good possibility that his name will arise in some questioning today,” Comer added.
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) said she also intended to ask Clinton about Lutnick.
Lutnick had maintained that his relationship with Epstein ended in 2005, but newly released materials from the Justice Department revealed they continued to have ties following Epstein’s conviction on soliciting a minor for prostitution in 2008. The files also show that Lutnick and his family had lunch on Epstein’s private island in 2012.
The Commerce secretary has not, however, been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein’s crimes. The Commerce Department did not immediately return a request for comment.
Comer also said Thursday morning his panel was “looking into” reporting from NPR that the Justice Department has sought to obscure information that could be damaging to President Donald Trump, including that he allegedly sexually assaulted a minor, as part of its release of the Epstein files in compliance with the law Congress passed in November.
“We don’t know the answer to that,” Comer said when asked about the missing DOJ records around the allegation against Trump. “We know what the administration says. We’re still looking to get a definitive answer on that.”
Trump has not been charged with any crimes in connection with Epstein and has maintained that the two had a falling out years before his 2019 arrest.
Reached for comment Thursday, the White House referred questions to the Justice Department about the implementation of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the law which compelled the administration to release materials in the Epstein case.
The White House also pointed to an earlier DOJ press release around the rollout of the Epstein materials, which stated that the production “may include fake or falsely submitted images, documents or videos, as everything that was sent to the FBI by the public was included in the production that is responsive to the Act.”
“Some of the documents contain untrue and sensationalist claims against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election,” the statement continued. “To be clear, the claims are unfounded and false, and if they have a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already.”
A DOJ spokesperson also pointed to earlier statements insisting the department was reviewing materials flagged by the public and that no files had been deleted.
“Should any document be found to have been improperly tagged in the review process and is responsive to the Act, the Department will of course publish it, consistent with the law,” read one of the statements.
The Justice Department has accused Democrats of playing politics with the investigation, after Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the Oversight panel, announced his team had been looking into missing materials related to an allegation against Trump.