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Commerce secretary under pressure to testify in Epstein case as DOJ pic mysteriously deleted

February 27, 2026 | | Print Article

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is under growing pressure from lawmakers to testify about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

Lutnick was already facing criticism that he misrepresented his relationship with the notorious sex trafficker and pedophile when a photo of him with Epstein in a tropical setting, which was allegedly from the Justice Department files, was posted to social media with claims that it had been mysteriously deleted from the department’s website.

In the photo, a man who appears to be Lutnick and is clad in shorts and a blue shirt is seen standing behind the leering Epstein and three other men with a large body of water in the background, presumably the deceased pervert’s private Caribbean island, which according to documents included in the released files, was visited by the top Trump administration cabinet member.

The image was posted by JMail, an X account that bills itself as “an interactive archive tracking the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.”

In an interview last year, Lutnick denied that he had a regular relationship with Epstein and that he had only interacted with him on one occasion.

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“I was never in the room with him socially, for business, or even philanthropy,” he told the New York Post, according to the Daily Mail. “If that guy was there, I wasn’t going ’cause he’s gross. So I look back at it as a gift. He gave me a gift.”

But the January release of the files told a different story, referencing Lutnick multiple times, including that he had visited St. James island years after he had claimed that he cut ties with Epstein.

The island, which was a destination for politicians, celebs and other influential figures, has a reputation for being the location of wild sexual debauchery, which has been rumored to have been recorded and used for blackmail purposes. Little St. James was nicknamed “Orgy Island” and “Pedo Island” by the locals.

Lutnick acknowledged visiting the steamy tropical setting in 2012 with his family. Years after Epstein’s conviction for sex crimes.

“My wife was with me, as were my four children and nannies. I had another couple with, they were there as well, with their children, and we had lunch on the island,” Lutnick said of his visit to Little St. James.

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“I’m sure there’s a good reason for this. DOJ needs to tell Congress who pulled this file down so we can ask them,” wrote Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) in a Thursday post to X.

“I did not have any relationship with him. I barely had anything to do with that person, OK?” Lutnick said during a February 10 Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing.

Lawmakers are calling for Lutnick to be brought in for a grilling after failed Democrat presidential candidate and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s Thursday deposition on Epstein, putting pressure on GOP leaders.

“That’s very possible,” House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-KY) said on Thursday. “I think it’s a good possibility that his name will arise in some questioning today.”

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Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) said, “It’ll be on my list.”

The missing photo of Lutnick and Epstein was restored to the DOJ website on Thursday night, CBS News reported.

Chris Donaldson
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