Howard Lutnick forced to face Jeffrey Epstein ties during House Oversight hearing

On 6 May 2026, Howard Lutnick appeared before the US House Oversight Committee and was questioned about his past ties to Jeffrey Epstein for more than four hours, CNN reported. German outlets described him as US commerce secretary. Reuters wrote that he testified he cannot recall why his family lunched on Epstein's island.

Oversight Democrats accused Lutnick of ducking Epstein questions. The Associated Press wrote that his testimony drew praise from the Republican chair and derision from Democrats, while the Straits Times quoted the Republican House chairman as saying Lutnick was not '100% truthful'.