Howard Lutnick, the US secretary of commerce under Donald Trump, arranged to visit Jeffrey Epstein’s private island in 2012, according to newly released files from the Department of Justice. The documents show that Lutnick sent an email to 'Jeff' proposing a dinner meeting on Little St James island.
On 20 November 2012, Epstein’s assistant emailed Lutnick, saying Epstein understood Lutnick would be in St Thomas over the holidays and requested Lutnick be given phone numbers to arrange a meeting. On 19 December, Lutnick wrote to Epstein that he and others, including his wife and children, would be in the Caribbean on his boat. He asked for the exact location of Epstein’s property and suggested Sunday evening dinner.
A redacted individual replied with Epstein’s invitation to come on Saturday or Sunday for lunch on Little St James. On 24 December, Epstein emailed his assistant to forward a message to Lutnick reading 'nice seeing you, read #2 dot three.' The assistant forwarded it.
Lutnick told the New York Times he could not comment as he had not seen the latest documents, and said he 'spent zero time with him' before ending the call. The files also reveal that in 2015, Lutnick invited Epstein to a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton, forwarding an invitation through Epstein’s assistant. Lutnick had previously acknowledged Epstein was his neighbour and recounted a 2005 incident where Epstein showed him a massage table in his dining room and made a suggestive comment, after which Lutnick said he avoided Epstein.
The Commerce Department did not respond to requests for comment.
