Commerce Secretary Faces Bipartisan Calls to Resign Over Epstein Business Ties

The Commerce Department is facing growing bipartisan pressure as Secretary Howard Lutnick confronts calls to resign following revelations about his business relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Documents released by the Department of Justice suggest Lutnick maintained financial ties with Epstein years after the latter’s 2008 conviction for sexual abuse involving a minor.

Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, joined Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky on Monday in demanding Lutnick’s resignation. According to Garcia, the secretary has been dishonest about the extent of his relationship with Epstein.

“It’s now clear that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has been lying about his relationship with Epstein. He said he had no interactions with Epstein after 2005, and we now know they were in business together,” Garcia wrote on X. “Lutnick must resign or be fired. And he must answer our questions.”

The controversy centers on newly released DOJ files showing that Lutnick and Epstein jointly invested in a technology company called Adfin in 2012. The document lists Lutnick as a “signatory” alongside Epstein, who is designated as a “preferred holder” among nine investors. Crucially, this business relationship occurred four years after Epstein’s conviction for sexual crimes involving a 14-year-old girl.

Rep. Massie, who was among the first to call for Lutnick’s resignation, did not mince words when discussing the matter on CNN Sunday. “He should just resign. Prince [Andrew] lost his title for less than what we’ve seen Howard Lutnick lie about,” Massie said, referencing the British royal who was stripped of his titles last year due to his association with Epstein.

“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,” Massie added.

Further complicating matters for the Commerce Secretary, additional documents in the Epstein files reveal communications that suggest Lutnick may have met with Epstein in the Virgin Islands. A November 2012 email from Epstein’s assistant reads: “Jeffrey Epstein understands you will be down in St. Thomas some over the holidays. Jeffrey requested I please pass along some phone numbers to you so the two of you can possibly get together.”

The Commerce Department has pushed back against the criticism, characterizing the demands as politically motivated. “Mr. Lutnick met Jeffrey Epstein in 2005 and had very limited interactions with him over the next 14 years,” a department spokesperson said in response to an inquiry from Fox News Digital.

The spokesperson further dismissed the controversy as “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.”

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, has not yet responded to inquiries about whether the committee would consider questioning Lutnick as part of its ongoing investigation into Epstein and his crimes.

The revelations come amid a broader probe into Epstein’s extensive network of associates and business partners. The House Oversight Committee has been investigating Epstein’s crimes and connections, with lawmakers recently discussing the possibility of subpoenaing high-profile figures like Bill Gates who had documented interactions with Epstein.

The bipartisan nature of the calls for Lutnick’s resignation underscores the seriousness with which lawmakers view any potential connection to Epstein, whose 2019 death while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges left many questions unanswered about his operations and associates.

As pressure mounts, Lutnick faces a challenging path forward at the Commerce Department, where he oversees critical aspects of U.S. economic and trade policy. Whether he will address these allegations directly or how the administration will respond to the bipartisan calls for his resignation remains to be seen.