Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick reportedly donated $5 million to a super PAC supporting House Republicans about a month before lawmakers interviewed him regarding his interactions with deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to a new report.
Donation Details
Lutnick contributed $5 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund on April 1, making him the first known member of President Donald Trump's cabinet to disclose a seven-figure federal donation after Senate confirmation, The New York Times reports. He sat for an interview with the House Oversight Committee on May 6, having agreed to it in early March, roughly a month before the donation.
“Mr. Lutnick made a political donation in his personal capacity, just as many Cabinet Secretaries from both parties have done in the past,” a Commerce Department spokesperson told The Independent, providing a list of former cabinet members who made donations while in office, including officials from the Obama, Biden, and first Trump administrations.
Scrutiny Over Epstein Ties
The commerce secretary has faced heightened scrutiny since the release of the so-called Epstein files, which contained information about his past interactions with Epstein. Lutnick has denied any wrongdoing, and being mentioned in the files does not indicate wrongdoing.
During the House Oversight Committee interview, lawmakers questioned Lutnick about his ties to Epstein, who was once his neighbor, and about a 2012 lunch his family had on Epstein's private island, Little St. James. Four years prior, Epstein had pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution.
“With respect to visiting, having lunch with my family and another family and the whole crowd going to his island for lunch, I don't remember why we went,” Lutnick told lawmakers, according to a transcript. “I don't remember him registering as a sex offender. And if my next door neighbor was registered as a sex offender and I knew it, I would remember that.”
When asked when he learned Epstein was a registered sex offender, Lutnick reiterated that he does not recall. “If I knew, I would've been concerned about him being — living next door, and I wouldn't have gone to the island,” he said. “I only interacted with this person three times my whole life, all, as you know, meaningless and inconsequential, never with other people, nothing.”
The Independent has requested comment from the Congressional Leadership Fund and the House Oversight Committee.
