Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick attends a hearing of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Judiciary, Science, and Related Agencies at the Department of Commerce to consider the review of broadband deployment funding on Capitol Hill, Washington, February 10, 2026.
Elizabeth Franz | Reuters
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is scheduled to appear before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on May 6 for questioning regarding notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a person familiar with the matter told CNBC on Monday.
As the cast has not yet been announced, a source said on condition of anonymity, “This is an interview that was voluntarily transcribed.”
Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) said on March 3 that Mr. Lutnick had agreed to be interviewed about the crimes of Mr. Epstein and convicted procurer Ghislaine Maxwell, but he did not say when that would take place.
The Commerce Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Lutnick’s scheduled appearance.
In testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee on February 10, Lutnick said that in December 2012, he and his family had lunch on Epstein’s private Caribbean island and visited with the family’s nanny.
The meal came more than four years after Epstein was sentenced to 13 months in prison after pleading guilty in a Florida court to soliciting an underage girl for prostitution.
Mr. Lutnick’s admission in Senate testimony came after he claimed to have cut off contact with Mr. Epstein, his New York neighbor, in 2005.
However, the Justice Department has produced documents regarding Epstein showing that Lutnick remained in contact with him in subsequent years.
Former President Bill Clinton was subpoenaed and testified about Epstein before the committee on February 28th.
“I didn’t see anything, I didn’t do anything wrong,” Clinton said of the time she flew and interacted with Epstein.
Clinton said at the time that she had “no knowledge of the crimes committed by Mr. Epstein.”
On March 17, the Oversight Committee issued a subpoena forcing then-Attorney General Pam Bondi to take Epstein’s deposition on April 14. President Donald Trump fired Bondi on Thursday.
On March 3, the Oversight Committee announced that it had asked seven people for voluntary interviews regarding Epstein, including Microsoft founder Bill Gates, top Goldman Sachs lawyer Kathryn Ruemmler, billionaires Leon Black and Ted Waite.
