US commerce secretary details 'off-putting' interaction with Epstein in testimony

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A congressional panel investigating late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has released transcriptions of interviews with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Ted Waitt, the billionaire co-founder of Gateway computers.

Lutnick discussed having three interactions with Epstein - a neighbour of his in New York - which included a visit to the financier's home next door and a trip to his island in the Caribbean after he was thought to have cut ties with Epstein.

Waitt testified about his years-long relationship with Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's convicted co-conspirator, and his concerns about her working for him.

Neither Lutnick nor Waitt have been accused of any wrongdoing by Epstein's victims.

Lutnick appeared voluntarily on 6 May as part of the House Oversight Committee probe.

He said he and wife were invited to Epstein's New York home in 2005. After having coffee, they were offered a tour, during which they were shown a room with a massage table and candles around it.

Upon asking Epstein how often he gets a massage, the late financier apparently said: "Every day and the right kind of massage."

Lutnick said he found the comment "off-putting", and so he and his wife excused themselves and left the home. Afterwards, he told his wife he did not want to interact with Epstein.

The commerce secretary, who is considered the architect of Trump's global tariffs policy, had previously told Congress he cut ties with Epstein in 2005 after the paedophile used sexual innuendo to explain why he owned the massage table in a room of his home.

But earlier this year, he confirmed visiting Epstein's island while on a family vacation in the Caribbean in 2012. Details about the visit were included in millions of documents released by the US justice department related to their investigations into Epstein.

The revelation that Lutnick visited Epstein's island long after he asserted that he had cut off contact led to bipartisan calls for the commerce secretary to resign from the Trump administration.

During the interview last week, Lutnick said he was contacted by Epstein's staff, who somehow knew he would be vacationing with his family in St Thomas, near the island Epstein owned.

"What I still cannot understand is this," Lutnick said. "Without any communication for years, [how] would he inexplicably know where I'm going? It's unsettling, actually."

Lutnick, his wife and children, another couple and their children, plus staff, took up the invitation for lunch. They dined outdoors on the island, the commerce secretary said, and never went inside.

"We sat outside, had lunch. It was boring. We left," Lutnick told the committee.

He also said he had a discussion in 2011 with Epstein about scaffolding, which he called "meaningless and inconsequential".

The committee also on Wednesday released the transcript from its 30 April interview with Waitt.

He told the committee about his relationship with Epstein's co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell, which he said began in 2004 and lasted till 2010.

He denied witnessing any nefarious conduct and said he had very limited interactions with Epstein.

Waitt told the committee that he didn't know much about Maxwell's work for Epstein, describing her role as "estate manager", saying she helped manage "his properties and his staff".

He said Maxwell had dated Epstein before they'd met and it at times felt odd that she was working for her ex-boyfriend.

"He did seem to have significant influence over her, she always kind of look[ed] up to him and I was not comfortable with that," Waitt said.

Waitt was dating Maxwell when Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida to prostitution of a minor. Maxwell was subpoenaed to testify and Waitt said they discussed the legal case during their relationship and she was "quite stressed" about it but "denied having any involvement with that".

He said they never shared a home together, as he lived in California and she primarily lived in New York.

Waitt denied any knowledge of Maxwell or Epstein abuse claims and said he wasn't aware of anytime that Maxwell went to Epstein's private island during their relationship.

Maxwell wasn't publicly considered a co-conspirator to Epstein until after their relationship ended. Waitt noted he wasn't aware of any of the allegations concerning her until she was charged in 2020 - about 10 years after their relationship ended.