Howard Lutnick insists ‘I did not leave my kids on Epstein island’ | News US

Father of the year Howard Lutnick has been rumbled over his relations with Jeffrey Epstein.

Donald Trump’s Commerce Secretary is facing calls to quit after lying about his relationship with Epstein after released files showed that he visited the billonaire’s so-called ‘paedophile island’ for lunch with his wife, friends and their eight children.

Lutnick admitted that he had met with Epstein twice after his conviction for soliciting prostitution from a child, reversing his bullish insistence on podcasts that he would ‘never be in the same room’ with the ‘disgusting’ paedophile billionaire after 2005.

Lutnick again downplayed his relationship with the disgraced financier who was once his neighbour in New York City as he was questioned by Democrats during a subcommittee hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

He described their contact as a handful of emails and a pair of meetings that were years apart.

‘I did not have any relationship with him. I barely had anything to do with him,’ Lutnick told lawmakers.

But he quickly folded after the latest batch of emails were released. He admitted: ‘I did have lunch with him as I was on a boat going across on a family vacation. My wife was with me, as were my four children and nannies. I had another couple with – they were there as well with their children, and we had lunch on the island.

‘That is true  — for an hour. And we left with all of my children, with my nannies and my wife all together.  

‘We were on family vacation. We were not a part — to suggest there was anything untoward about that in 2012. I don’t recall why we did it but we did.’

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt abruptly cut short a press conference after she was asked questions about Lutnick’s appearance.

She replied that Trump ‘fully supports’ Lutnick and described him as ‘a very important member of President Trump’s team.’

It came as Congressman Ro Khanna named the six high-profile men that are included in the unredacted version of the documents relating to Jeffrey Epstein.

Khanna named, US businessman Leslie Wexner of Victoria’s Secret, Abercrombie & Fitch and Bath & Body Works fame; Emirati businessman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem; and Salvatore Nuara, Zurab Mikeladze, Leonic Leonov, and Nicola Caputo.

‘If we found six men that they were hiding in two hours, imagine how many men they are covering up for in those 3 million files,’ Khanna said. ‘Why are they protecting these rich and powerful men? People I call part of the ‘Epstein class’.

‘Why are we in a country where there is no elite accountability for people who do the most heinous things?’

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