
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick came under intense scrutiny after testifying before congressional investigators about his past relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, a relationship that appeared far more extensive than he had previously admitted...
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Spinquest is a free to play social casino void where prohibited. Visit spinquest.com for more details. I drive my bus in a busy city. That's why road safety is so important to me. I know that I must slow down and be extra careful when I make a wide turn. Buses need more room than cars. Everyone can help keep our roads safe. Next time you're driving, remember to give buses plenty of time and space to finish turning before driving ahead. Let's all plan to share the road safely. Learn how at www.sharetheroadsafely.gov. what's up everyone? And welcome to another episode of the Epstein Chronicles. Listen, there are a few things in life that are a sure thing. Death, taxes, and Trump administration officials lying about their relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. And last week we heard from Howard Lutnick about his so called relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and how every single meeting between the two of them was inconsequential and how it had no meaning whatsoever. But he doesn't recall what they talked about. But he knows for a fact that it was inconsequential and meaningless. And you know what? If you would have just been honest from the very beginning about your relationship with the dude, my guess is things would have went a lot easier for you. But instead you had to lie. You had to make pretend that you had no relationship with a guy whatsoever when everybody in the world knows different. And you know what else is wild? That this dude didn't even go under oath before he gave his statement to Congress. I mean, not that I blame him. Would you want to be under oath if you were telling falsehoods about your relationship with Jeffrey Epstein? Probably not. But I have a hard time believing that Howard Lutnick was being truthful. I mean, look at the way he reacted about the mask. What do you mean? I don't have a goatee. I have a couple of pieces of hair that could. That can't be me. I mean, that was literally his excuse. And look, I'm not saying that the mask is Howard Ludnick, but I'm saying that it's a question that's valid considering everything we know about Jeffrey Epstein, about Jeffrey Epstein's friends, and about how Howard Ludnick has lied. So today we have an article from CNBC and the headline, dems Demand Lutnick Resign over Epstein interview. You lied. This article was authored by Kevin Bruniger. House Democrats on Thursday demanded Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's resignation, alleging he publicly lied about his relationship with notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and refused to come clean during a subsequent closed door interview. Well, I think that that's true. I think that Howard Lutnick has done nothing but sell us a bunch of bs and of course, the question becomes, why? What are you hiding? What are you so worried about being exposed? I would think at this point that people would understand that coming clean and being honest is the right way to go about this, because the more you double down, the more you lie, the more people are going to think you have something to hide. The facts are clear. You lied to the American people and attempted to conceal your relationship with Jeffrey Epstein in your public statements. The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Democratic minority, said in a letter to Lutnick, your lack of candor demonstrates that you're unfit to perform the duties required of you as Secretary of Commerce, and you must step down immediately. Read the letter, signed by all 21 of the panel's Democratic members and listen. There sure is a lot of politics at play. Anyone denying that is lying, but that doesn't mean the Democrats are wrong here to demand this. Howard Lutnick's a liar, and I don't believe a word he says. Ludnick claimed in the interview last year following a visit to Epstein's Manhattan mansion. Shortly after he moved next door to him in 2005, he decided that I'll never be in the room with that disgusting person ever again until he was. So I was never in the room with them socially, for business or even philanthropy. Lutnick said in that interview, if that guy was there, I wasn't going because he's gross. That all turned out to be a lie. So why were you lying, Howie Lutnick? What were you hoping to gain from your lies? Well, that's right, some distance. And make no mistake, there is a reason that Marjorie Taylor Greene is no longer in politics. There's a reason that more money has been raised against Thomas Massie than anybody ever. And there's also a reason that Donald Trump just turned on Lauren Boebert. I'll let you figure out what that reason is and anybody that still supports Donald Trump. I don't even know what to say at this point, honestly, this goes so much further than owning the libs or whatever it is you're thinking you're doing. This is just beyond the pale. And no president, no politician, should ever demand complete and utter loyalty from anyone. But that's what Donald Trump does. And all these people out here there are more than willing to go along with it. And these people think they're the patriots. That's the craziest part of all of it. Breaking news. If you think Ghislaine Maxwell should be pardoned and you think Jeffrey Epstein's a hoax, you are not a patriot. But after the Department of Justice release of the Epstein related files showed continued ties between the two men, years later, Lutnick admitted in a Senate hearing that he and his family had lunch on the disgraced financier's private island in 2012. It was just an hour. It was inconsequential. Who goes to a private island and has lunch for an hour, Brings his nannies, brings some friends, brings his wife, brings his kids. But I had no idea what Jeffrey Epstein was. And that's a whole ass other conversation, right? You mean to tell me the city of New York didn't let people know that there was a registered sex offender living next to them? And didn't Jeffrey Epstein live next to a school? Like, what's even going on in New York? That's another question that needs to be asked. Because remember, the prosecutors in New York argue that Jeffrey Epstein should be labeled a lower level sex offender. So this is something that's been happening in New York for quite some time. And that's why I just don't believe what Lutnick has to say about Jeffrey Epstein. And not knowing what Epstein was, everybody knew. At the very least, everybody knew that he went to prison or jail back in 2008. Everybody knew that. But Lutnick's gonna get up here and act like nobody knew, like it was some big state secret. I'm sorry, but that just proves he's lying. Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to state level charge of solicitation of a minor for a prostitution, which required him to register as a sex offender. He died in a New York city jail in 2019 while facing federal sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide. I like how the author here says it was ruled to suicide, because that's what it was ruled, the suicide. We don't know definitively one way or the other. Democrats wrote in Thursday's letter that Lutnick's claim in the 2025 interview was demonstrably false. During your transcribed interview, you are presented with clear evidence that you corresponded and physically met with Epstein on multiple occasions prior to his arrest in 2019, including the private island lunch. They wrote and look, why would you lie even about the most basic thing? And that's what really gets me with all these people, like, stop lying about everything. If you just be honest about it, come forward and be like, hey, I knew the dude. I had no idea that he was up to what he was up to. But even though I don't think I know anything, I'd love to talk to the FBI or whoever's investigating and tell them what I know. I might have seen something. None of these people have done that. Instead, they've all wished it to go away. But obviously that's not going to happen. No matter how many stupid little shiny objects they dangle in front of us, it's not going away. Now, we might talk about other things. We might, you know, look at other stories or whatever, but this is always going to be burning right in the background. And until there's justice, until there's real transparency and a real investigation, nobody's moving on. At least nobody that understands the score and understands the true scope of what's happening here. Given the opportunity to come clean during the interview, you instead offered implausible distinctions and. And semantic games. The lawmakers wrote. A Commerce Department spokesperson, in a statement to cnbc, called the letter another failing attempt by congressional Democrats to distract from Secretary Lutnick's historic work at the Commerce Department. What does that even mean? What historic work? The tariffs being, you know, rolled back, and we have to pay taxes on those, too. Where is all this historic work I keep hearing about? In a voluntary appearance before the House Oversight Committee, Secretary Lutnick answered nearly 400 questions from members and staff, ending only when members said they had nothing more to ask. The spokesperson said, well, that's cool, and it's true, but his problem is that he lied. That's the big issue here. And of course, that all folds right into the COVID up. He explained repeatedly that three encounters did not constitute a relationship, and. And the committee adjourned without identifying any evidence to the contrary. Calls for his resignation are baseless and politically motivated. Yo, straight up, fuck your politics, okay? I don't care. He should resign because that's the moral, right thing to do. That's why he should resign.
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Boss, what's the most dreaded question that you can get when you tell people you host a podcast called the Lapsed Fan? Ugh. It's what is it about? And why is that, do you think? Because to like pro wrestling is to lose the respect of others. Now what if we told you there's a podcast that explains exactly why that is and why it's kind of deserved. For over a decade, we've taken fact finding missions through the thicket of half truths that is wrestling history. We watch old matches, call out carnies, laugh at our own jokes, and have so much fun doing it that some people actually can't handle it. Think wrestling is an escape from real life? Think again. Same power games, same office politics, same people lying to your face. Just with entrance music and absolutely no company health insurance under any circumstances. All I offer is opportunity, not benefits. As do we, Vince. The Lapsed Fan Podcast Come for the wrestling history. Stay for the uncomfortable truth about why it used to be better and why you still care.
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The White House said in February that President Trump, who has also faced scrutiny over his past friendship with Epstein, continues to stand behind Ludnick. Oh, I'm sure he does. Birds of a feather and all right, lutnick testified before the House Oversight Committee behind closed doors on May 6. He told the committee that he was participating voluntarily, though he had agreed to appear after Representative Nancy Mace said she would issue a bipartisan subpoena to compel his testimony. Now Mace is the last woman standing, and you know Trump's going to go after her, too. Every single person that helped get this transparency act passed has been attacked by Donald Trump and it's not a coincidence, folks. A transcription of the interview shows Lutnick saying he could recall meeting with Epstein three times, including 2005 and 2012 interactions. In 2011, Lutnick said Epstein's staff reached out saying suggesting he had a reason to get in touch with me. It was arranged that Lutnick, while walking his wife and his dog on a Sunday afternoon, would ring Epstein's doorbell to hear what he had to say, the secretary said. Why? I thought he was disgusting. I thought he was reprehensible and you'd never be in a room with him again until you were. My best recollection is I rang the bell, sat in the foyer with my dog, waited for him to come down, heard what he had to say, and left. As far as I recall, it was about scaffolding. It was meaningless and inconsequential, he told the committee. Under questioning, Lutnick denied that he had been misleading about his relationship with Epstein, insisting that he used the word I versus we was a crucial distinction. I mean, wow, talk about word salad and thinking we're stupid because it was all of that. I was accurate. I think I described it accurately. I don't want it to be modified in any way. I was. I would not be in the room with them socially, which I was not, for business, which I was not, or philanthropic, which I was not. So I believe that what I said was accurate. I believe what I said was accurate when I said it, and I believe it now. So I didn't say we would never. I said I would never, he said. A questioner replied, we all understand that you are in the room with them in a social setting, but you have insisted that this sentence is accurate. So I just. That does not make sense on its face. Lutnick later said, I was never with him, meaning I was never in a situation with him. I was with my wife, and they were meaningless and inconsequential. Give me a break with that shit. Tell me that wasn't rehearsed with a lawyer, but contextually so people would understand I was never with them in any other manner. I. Howard Lutnick. One person was never in a situation, so you couldn't take it out of context. I was never with him. The Democrats wrote Thursday, no reasonable person would accept this account. A Cabinet secretary most basic obligation to Congress is candor. Your statements have a bearing on the lives of all Americans. You used your congressional interview not for the. Not to correct the record, but. But to perpetuate a false public narrative. They wrote, and of course that should be punished if it can be proven that should be punished. You contradicted prior statements and stonewalled on basic questions. A secretary who will parse the meaning of plain English to avoid acknowledging his own words, claim no recollection of a documented visit to a convicted sex offender's private island, and refuse to answer basic questions about his conversation with the President cannot be trusted to serve as a leader in the federal government. We therefore call on you to resign immediately as Secretary of Commerce. They wrote. Are they wrong? Well, like usual, I'll leave it up to you. All the information that goes with this episode can be found in the description box.
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Host: Bobby Capucci
Date: May 17, 2026
This episode zeroes in on the intensifying political and public pressure facing Howard Lutnick, current Secretary of Commerce, following his congressional testimony about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Host Bobby Capucci dissects the recent developments, focusing on Lutnick’s credibility issues, the political fallout, and the broader implications for transparency and justice in the Epstein case. Capucci’s trademark no-nonsense style is on full display as he critically evaluates Lutnick's statements, the political machinations at play, and the enduring fight for accountability in the Epstein saga.
Bobby Capucci concludes that Howard Lutnick’s actions and testimony exemplify a broader pattern of evasiveness and lack of accountability among Epstein’s elite associates. Capucci makes a strong moral argument for resignation independent of partisanship, and underlines that the movement for answers and transparency in the Epstein case remains unwavering and urgent.
For more detail, Capucci directs listeners to reference materials in the episode’s description and reiterates his commitment to unrelenting scrutiny on this story and its cast of powerful players.