Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick appears at a hearing of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies to examine the review of broadband deployment funding at the Department of Commerce on Capitol Hill in Washington, February 10, 2026.
Elizabeth Frantz reuters
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is to appear before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on May 6 for an interview about notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a person familiar with the situation told CNBC on Monday.
“This is a voluntary written interview,” the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the appearance has not yet been announced.
Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer, R-Ky.., said on March 3 that Lutnick had agreed to be interviewed about the crimes of Epstein and his convicted procurer, Ghislaine Maxwell, but did not announce on which day it would take place.
The Commerce Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Lutnick’s scheduled appearance.
Lutnick said during testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee on February 10 that he and his family had lunch with Epstein in December 2012 at Epstein’s private Caribbean island, where he visited with the family’s nannies.
The meal came more than four years after Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida state court to soliciting an underage girl for prostitution, for which he served 13 months in prison.
Lutnick’s admission in Senate testimony came after he claimed he had lost contact with Epstein, who was his neighbor in New York, in 2005.
But Department of Justice files about Epstein Show Lutnik stayed in touch with him for years thereafter.
Former President Bill Clinton testified to the committee about Epstein on February 28 after being subpoenaed.
“I saw nothing and I did nothing wrong,” Clinton said of the time she spent flying and socializing with Epstein.
At the time, Clinton said, “I had no idea what crimes Epstein was committing.”
The Oversight Committee issued a subpoena on March 17 to compel then-Attorney General Pam Bondi to sit for testimony on Epstein on April 14. President Donald Trump fired Bondy on Thursday.
The oversight panel said on March 3 that it had asked seven other people to sit for voluntary interviews about Epstein, including Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Goldman Sachs’ top lawyer Katherine Ruemmler, billionaire Leon Black and Ted Waite.