US President Donald Trump’s top economic adviser has been called out to testify over his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein after a new photo from the Department of Justice files emerged.
The photo shows Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick alongside Epstein and three other unidentified individuals on a tropical island.
Republican Representative Thomas Massie, who has spearheaded the release of the Epstein files, called on the DOJ to explain why the photo had reportedly been deleted from the department’s website.
‘I’m sure there’s a good reason for this. DOJ needs to tell Congress who pulled this file down so we can ask them,’ Massie wrote on X in response to the image.
The pressure on Lutnick comes after he previously claimed in an October interview with the New York Post that he only interacted with Epstein on a single occasion because the financier ‘grossed’ him out.
‘I was never in the room with him socially, for business, or even philanthropy,’ he added. ‘If that guy was there, I wasn’t going ’cause he’s gross. So I look back at it as a gift. He gave me a gift.’
But in January, the release of new Epstein files showed Lutnick visited Epstein’s Little St. James island for lunch years after he claimed to have cut off ties. He admitted earlier this month to visiting the island with his family in congressional testimony.
‘I did not have any relationship with him. I barely had anything to do with that person, OK?’ Lutnick told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on February 10.
After former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testified in front of the House Oversight Committee on Friday, lawmakers from both parties are demanding Lutnick face new questioning on his relationship with the pedophile.
Oversight Chair James Comer told reporters in New York on Thursday the committee is not ruling out sending a subpoena to Lutnick for his deposition.
‘That’s very possible,’ said the Kentucky Republican lawmaker. ‘I think it’s a good possibility that his name will arise in some questioning today.’
Meanwhile, Representative Nancy Mace, a vocal Trump congressional ally, said she would ask Clinton about Lutnick.
Comer has claimed the Oversight investigation is a bipartisan effort that will question Republicans and Democrats over their relations with Epstein.
Lutnick is considered an influential figure in Trump’s inner circle and one of the President’s closest advisers.
