US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick testifies during the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies on February 10, 2026 in Washington, DC. Lutnick is facing bipartisan calls for him to resign after revelations from the recent release of the Epstein files.
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House Democrats on Thursday called for the resignation of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, alleging that he publicly lied about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and refused to “come clean” during an interview.
“The facts are clear: you lied to the American people and tried to hide your relationship with Jeffrey Epstein in your public statements,” the Democratic House Oversight and Government Reform’s minority said in a letter to Lutnick.
“Your bluntness shows that you are unfit to perform the duties required of you as Commerce Secretary, and you should step down immediately,” reads the letter signed by all 21 members of the Democratic Alliance.
Lutnick said in an interview last year that, after visiting Epstein’s Manhattan mansion shortly after he moved in in 2005, he “made up his mind that I would never be in a room with that disgusting person again.”
“So I’ve never been in the room with him, socially, business-wise or even philanthropically,” Lutnick said in that interview. “If that guy was there, I wouldn’t go because he’s evil.”
But after the Justice Department released files related to Epstein that showed a continuing relationship between the two men over the years, Lutnick admitted in a Senate hearing that he and his family had lunch on the financier’s private island in 2012.
Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting a minor for prostitution, which required him to register as a sex offender. He died in a New York City jail in 2019 while facing sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.
Democrats wrote in a letter Thursday that Lutnick’s claim in the 2025 interview was “clearly false.”
“During your written interview, you were presented with clear evidence that you had communicated and met with Epstein numerous times prior to his arrest in 2019,” including a private island lunch.
“If you were given the opportunity to come clean” during the interview, you “provided incredible contrasts and semantic games,” the lawmakers wrote.
A spokesperson for the Commerce Department, in a statement to CNBC, called the letter “another failed attempt by Congressional Democrats to derail Secretary Lutnick’s historic career at the Commerce Department.”
“In his voluntary appearance before the Oversight Committee, Secretary Lutnick answered nearly 400 questions from members and staff, and ended with the members saying they had nothing to ask,” said the spokesperson.
“He explained repeatedly that his three meetings were not a relationship, and the committee postponed without identifying evidence against this. Requests for him to step down are baseless and politically motivated.”
The White House said in February that President Donald Trump, who has also faced scrutiny over his past friendship with Epstein, continues to stand behind Lutnick.
Lutnick testified before the House Oversight Committee behind closed doors on May 6. He told the committee that he participated voluntarily, although he agreed to appear after Rep. Nancy Mace, RS.C., said she would issue a subpoena to compel his testimony.
The transcript of the interview shows Lutnick saying he can recall meeting Epstein three times, including interactions in 2005 and 2012.
In 2011, Lutnick said, Epstein’s staff reached out “suggesting that he had a reason to contact me.” It was arranged that Lutnick, while out with his wife and dogs on Sunday afternoon, would knock on Epstein’s door “to hear what he had to say,” the secretary said.
“What I remember the most is: I rang the bell, I sat in his house with my dog, I waited for him to come down, I heard what he had to say, and I left. As far as I remember, it was about the scaffolding. It was meaningless and unimportant,” he told the committee.
Under cross-examination, Lutnick denied that he had misrepresented his relationship with Epstein, insisting that his use of “I” and “we” was an important distinction.
“I was accurate. I think I explained it accurately. I don’t want it to be changed in any way. I wouldn’t be in the room with him socially, which I wasn’t; for business, which I wasn’t; or philanthropic, which I wasn’t. So I believe that what I said was accurate. I believe that what I said was accurate when I said it, and I believe it now. “So I would not have spoken.”
The questioner replied, “We all understand that you were in the room with him at the club, but you insist that this sentence is accurate. So just – that doesn’t make sense.”
Lutnick later said, “I had never been with him, I mean, I had never been in a situation with him. I was with my wife. And they were meaningless and insignificant. But in context, so people understand, I have never been with him in any other way. I, Howard Lutnick, one person, have never been in a situation. So you couldn’t take it out of context. I wasn’t with him.”
Democrats wrote Thursday, “No sane person would accept this account.”
“A cabinet secretary’s fundamental responsibility to Congress is to be forthright; your statements impact the lives of all Americans. He used congressional interviews not to set the record straight, but to advance a false public narrative,” they wrote.
“He contradicted previous statements and was stonewalled on basic questions. A secretary who will explain in plain English to avoid admitting his words, says he doesn’t remember a documented visit to a private island by a sex offender, and refuses to answer basic questions about his conversations with the President cannot be trusted to serve as a leader in the federal government.”
“Therefore, we ask you to immediately resign as secretary of commerce,” they wrote.
