Rep. Robert Garcia, the leading Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, asked for answers on Friday after newly released Epstein-related records contradicted Trump’s Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s public statements about his connections to Jeffrey Epstein.
“Trump Commerce Secretary Lutnick said he had zero interactions with Epstein after 2005. It seems they were actually doing business together. We have serious questions,” Garcia wrote on X, sharing a CBS News report on documents that reveal ongoing business contacts between Lutnick and Epstein.
CBS News reported that records from the Justice Department’s Epstein files show Lutnick and Epstein “were in business together as recently as 2014,” despite Lutnick’s earlier claims that he had limited interactions with Epstein and that they ended years before.
This new information builds on disclosures from the Justice Department’s latest document release under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The DOJ announced on Jan. 30 that it published 3.5 million pages of relevant documents along with thousands of videos and images to comply with the law.
One set of emails in the recently released material shows Lutnick, in 2012, making arrangements that involved possibly visiting Epstein’s private island with his family, years after he claimed to have cut off contact. Bloomberg reported separately that the same set of documents suggests Lutnick stayed in touch longer than he has publicly admitted, citing a December 2012 email in which Lutnick inquired about a family trip.
After meeting with Jeffrey Epstein in 2005, Howard Lutnick said he vowed to “never be in a room with that disgusting person ever again.”
Documents released today by Trump’s DOJ say otherwise. pic.twitter.com/flRfOwPtYA
— Sarah Longwell (@SarahLongwell25) January 30, 2026
These disclosures contradict Lutnick’s previous comments about the timeline of his relationship with Epstein. CBS News noted that Lutnick has characterized his interactions as limited, while documents show continued business exchanges into the next decade.
Garcia’s post indicated that committee Democrats plan to question Lutnick directly. In a release from Oversight Democrats in October 2025, Garcia urged Lutnick to testify as part of the committee’s review of Epstein-related records, arguing that “every new document” can help lawmakers clarify who may have enabled or protected Epstein and how federal agencies managed the case.
The scrutiny comes as the DOJ has faced criticism over its handling of the ongoing release of Epstein records, including concerns about victim privacy. Business Insider reported on Friday that the DOJ temporarily removed about 9,500 documents after victims and attorneys claimed identifying details were included in the public release. The department stated it would add further redactions before reposting the records.
The Associated Press reported that the DOJ will allow members of Congress to review unredacted versions of the released Epstein files starting Monday, Feb. 9, on Justice Department computers, with restrictions on electronic copying and limited access.
Lutnick, a billionaire finance executive before joining Trump’s Cabinet, has been among several prominent figures named in the latest filings and communications released under the transparency law. The CBS News report stated that the documents reviewed show ongoing business dealings and communications that continued past the date Lutnick claimed he had severed ties.
Jeffrey Epstein, the financier at the heart of the records release, died in a federal jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges after years of public allegations and a prior case in Florida. The Justice Department’s production has prompted renewed calls for accountability and a complete disclosure of Epstein’s network and contacts.
Garcia did not detail any immediate actions he plans to take following his Friday post, but he framed the Lutnick disclosures as a credibility issue that Oversight Democrats believe requires sworn testimony and additional document production.
