Democrats Say They Have Votes to Force Lutnick to Testify on Epstein

House Oversight Democrats believe they have the votes to force Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to testify before the committee regarding his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein and the lies he told about it.

“We also need other people, part of the Epstein class, to come before this committee. If President Clinton can answer questions, many others need to as well,” Representative Ro Khanna said on the steps of a performing arts center in Chappaqua, New York, where Bill Clinton was set to testify, just moments after demanding that President Donald Trump also testify before the Oversight Committee about his ties to Epstein.

“I was pleased to see Congresswoman Nancy Mace today calling for Howard Lutnick to come before our committee,” Khanna continued. “I believe we will have the votes to subpoena him, and we will work with ranking member [Robert] Garcia to make sure he comes before our committee next.”

In an interview on the New York Post’s Pod Force One podcast last October, Lutnick told a dramatic story about how an awkward meeting he had with Epstein in 2005 when they were Manhattan neighbors led him to decide he would “never be in the room with that disgusting person ever again.”

“I say to him, ‘Massage table in the middle of your house? How often do you have a massage?’” Lutnick said in the interview. “And [Epstein] says, ‘Every day.’ And then he gets, like weirdly close to me, and he says, ‘And the right kind of massage.’ … In the six to eight steps it takes to get from his house to my house, my wife and I decided that I will never be in the room with that disgusting person ever again.”

That turned out to be a huge lie. Files revealed that Lutnick took his entire family to Epstein’s private island seven years after he said he cut off ties with the predator. Now, after going virtually unscathed by what should be a career-ending scandal, Lutnick might have to face the music for it.

Rep. Khanna: “I was pleased to see Congresswoman Nancy Mace today calling for Howard Lutnick to come before our committee. I believe we will have the votes to subpoena him.” pic.twitter.com/glq9h9Ch8Z

— The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) February 27, 2026