← The Epstein Chronicles
The Epstein Chronicles
Congressional Investigators Question Howard Lutnick Over Epstein Relationship (5/7/26)
00:20:26
Howard Lutnick faced an intense closed-door showdown before the House Oversight Committee after newly released Epstein files contradicted years of public claims that he cut ties with Jeffrey Epstein around 2005. According to the records discussed...
Loading summary
Transcript8 lines
- [00:01]
A
Forget whatever plans you have this weekend because you're staying at home and playing on spinquest. And there's never been a better time to sign up than right now. New users get $30 coin packs for just $10, all the table games you love, with hundreds of slot games and real cash Prizes. That's at spinquest.com S P I N Q U-E-S-T.com Spinquest is a free to
- [00:24]
B
play social casino void where prohibited. Visit spinquest.com for more details.
- [00:32]
C
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.
- [01:31]
B
What's up everyone? And welcome to another episode of the Epstein Chronicles. Howard Lutnick had his day in front of Congress yesterday, and of course both sides have competing narratives about what went down at the hearing. Now, of course we don't know yet, and all we have are bits and pieces that that have been disseminated to us by either side. So until we have the transcript and we can take a look at it, my advice would be to take everything that you hear with a grain of salt, because we just don't know. And both sides obviously want to have a narrative spun and want to use these depositions and the whole Epstein issue as a political cudgel. So I'm very cautious when it comes to listening to what these people have to say without any evidence to back it up. So with that said, why don't we dive into this article from NBC News and see what they have to say about good old Howie Lutnick and his deposition headline Howard Lutnick Evasive During Epstein Testimony. House Democrats say And then, of course, the Republicans say that he was 100% truthful. So which is it? This article was authored by Eric Ortiz and Ryan Nobles. Over the years, the households of New York financier Jeffrey Epstein and billionaire businessman Howard Lutnick, now the US Commerce Secretary, overlapped in seemingly conventional ways, like the need for a good painter. Another time, Epstein received the resume for Lutnick's nanny. Oh, the one that he took off the island with him. Weird. That whole entire conversation was weird. Yeah, my wife left with me, my nannies left, my kids left. No shit, dude. Did they come with you? Why would they not be leaving with you? Furthermore, why were you there? They were, after all, next door neighbors for more than a decade in an elite Upper east side enclave of Manhattan. Fellow travelers and all right. But their lives also intersected in far more influential or for personal ways. Such as when in 2012, Lutnick, his wife and their four young children sailed on a yacht to have lunch with Epstein on his private Caribbean island. Or seven months later, when an aide to then Prince Andrew wanted Epstein's opinion about Lutnick, then the CEO of the Wall street brokerage and investment bank, Canor Fitzgerald. And that's when I was working for Canner back then. It's crazy to think about, like, I had no idea who this guy even was, Howard Lutnick. All I knew is that Canner Fitzgerald opened up a gaming division in Las Vegas and they were paying good ass money. So when I transferred into that department, I had no idea the kind of operation that can or Fitzgerald planned on running. But it was quite obvious very soon that things were not on the up and up. And of course, that led to the Jersey Boy scandal that absolutely blew up Canter Gaming here in Las Vegas. But legit, the operation was run like Wolf of Wall street almost. It was absolutely absurd. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, honestly. What's your view on Howard Lutnick? Just met him with pa, wrote the aide, referring to Andrew, who was angling to do business with counter Fitzgerald. My neighbor's smart, Epstein replied. Yeah, not smart enough. Not smart enough to come up with a narrative that people actually believe, huh? The extent of Lutnick's personal association with Epstein, who died by suicide, allegedly in a New York city jail in 2019 while he was awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges, was the focus of a Capitol Hill inquiry. On Wednesday, following the closed door testimony before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which is investigating the federal government's handling of the case against Epstein, Democratic Committee members said they repeatedly asked Lutnick for details about the island visit and why he went. He's just gonna run the same game. I don't really know. I got an invite and I decided to pop in. We were in the neighborhood. I was there for an hour. We asked him over and over again, why did you go to the island? Representative Suhas submarine poll reporters. He says he doesn't remember, that it's inexplicable and he simply didn't know how to answer the question. Like how don't you know how to answer the question? That wasn't something you fell into. You didn't wake up on the yacht and drift to Little St. James. Somebody punched those coordinates in. Somebody made the decision to go there. So why did you go? What was the motivation to hang out with your buddy, talk business? What was it? Representative Ro Khanna said Lutnick was largely evasive in his testimony and did not appear credible or show regret for having maintained contact with Epstein after he claimed he stopped communications with him. If Donald Trump had seen the video transcript, he would have fired Howard Lutnick. Khanna said. It was really embarrassing. I have my doubts about that. In fact, I'm sure Lutnick was just marching to the beat that was being played by Donald Trump. We've seen the same thing over and over. Anytime one of these officials gets on the dock, they just get evasive. They talk a bunch of nonsense and then they start talking about all of the quote unquote achievements of the administration and rinse and repeat over and over again. The Commerce Department in the White House press office did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the testimony. Ludnick has denied any wrongdoing. He has not been accused of any impropriety tied to Epstein. No, it's about the lies again. It's the COVID up, stupid. How many times do we got to talk about it? All these people out here lying about their relationship with Epstein when it's provable that they're lying, are just making their lives harder. Here's an idea. And I know it's very difficult for those in the so called elite class to hear, but why don't you just be honest, Just tell the truth. The relationship between Lutnick and Epstein span years both before and after Epstein was convicted in 2008 for soliciting a minor for prostitution in Florida. Their email communications, which were sporadic, are in the millions of pages of Epstein investigation documents the Justice Department released this year. Look, they were tight, okay? Definitely tight, without a doubt. Now with that said, there's no indication that Mr. Lutnick was involved in any of Jeffrey Epstein's nonsense as far as the abuse. But for Howard Ludnick to get up there and lie to the American people, that's a problem unto itself. And there was a time when an elected official would have the morality and have the decency to step down if they got up on TV and started lying to the American people. But those days are long past. Just take a look at the people that are invading politics. Look at the scumbaggery that we see. The file show Lutnick reaching out to Epstein as early as 2009 and contacting him as late as 2018. Their interactions were not robust, but they remained in touch, including through phone calls and charity galas. Of course they did. And, look, nobody's saying they were thick as thieves. At least I'm not. But they were certainly friendly. And that relationship went a lot deeper than Mr. Lutnick wants to talk about. And again, that's the problem for Lutnick. He lied. Before Wednesday's hearing, Lutnick had offered shifting accounts about their relationship, initially saying in recent years that he had no association with Epstein. Lutnick said he cut ties in 2005 because he believed Epstein was a disgusting person. Then, after the Justice Department files were released, he acknowledged visiting Epstein's island. Lies, lies, and more lies. Can't believe a word you say. Once you prove yourself to be a liar, I don't want to hear anything else from you. Save that. Lutnick voluntarily agreed to appear before the bipartisan House Oversight Committee, said Representative James Comer, the committee's chairman. Comer told reporters that he believed Lutnick had had been very transparent in his testimony and that Democrats repeated the exact same question because there's only so many questions you can ask. Howard Lutnick, who lived, had a property next door to Epstein in New York, but talked to him three times over a decade. James Comer. Why are you lying so much? Seriously. And I know that he feels comfortable and safe because he's in Kentucky, ensconced in, you know, a deeply red area. But at some point, people are gonna be like, you know what? What have you actually done for us? James Comer. And once Trump is gone, all of these loyalists, they're in big trouble. I don't see how they continue to stay in politics when they can't ride on Trump's coattails anymore. So it's gonna be real interesting to see in 2028, when the party finally ends, how things shake. Out because if you think people are going to forget your behavior and how you conducted yourself, you got another thing coming, a source familiar with Lutnick's testimony said. He described our first meeting in 2005 when he moved in next door and he and his wife met Epstein in his home for coffee, a second meeting as a guest with his family to Epstein's island in 2012 and a third meeting to discuss scaffolding and Epstein's foyer and interaction that had not been previously detailed. The date of the third meeting was unclear. Ludnick said he never saw Epstein with any young women and never witnessed anything inappropriate. No, you never saw any of those women in the house, never saw any of the troves of young girls being led there by MC2. Never heard anything weird. Okay, I guess. Lutnick, who left Cantor Fitzgerald last year after President Donald Trump named him commerce secretary, is among at least half a dozen top officials in the Trump administration, including Trump himself, whose names appear in the files. Ah, the good old Epstein administration. Trump, who has not been accused of any crime in connection with Epstein and denies any wrongdoing, has acknowledged being friendly with him before they had a falling out about two decades ago, years before Epstein became a convicted sex offender. And which choose your own ending are we going to use here for Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein's relationship? Because it's obviously a Hardy Boys novel. You get to choose your own ending, right? Some congressional Democrats have accused Lutnick of lying and called on him to resign or be fired. They echoed the demand Wednesday following his testimony. His appearance in the files has also prompted students at Haverford College, Lutnick's alma mater in Pennsylvania, to demand that his name be stripped from the private liberal arts school's library. Well, I don't know if they'll be successful, but good luck because even without the Epstein stuff, I think Lutnik is corrupt and I say that from working for his company.
- [12:37]
A
Whether it's slots or live dealers, Spinquest.com has the fun and action you're looking for with Spinquest exclusives. Blackjack, roulette, baccarat and even live dice with craps and bubble craps. The games never stop so you don't have to. And right now, new users get $30 coin packs for just 10 bucks. Play now@spinquest.com Spin Quest is a free
- [13:02]
B
to play social casino void where prohibited. Visit spinquest.com for more details. Lutnick told Axios in March, I've done nothing wrong and I want to set the record straight. A Commerce Department spokesperson said in a statement Tuesday that Lutnick was putting to rest the inaccurate and and baseless claims in the media design to distract from his historic work underway at the Commerce Department. You mean like refunding all of the tariffs? Really historic? So I get to pay for that shit twice, is what you're telling me? Cool historic job from the most transparent administration in the history of transparency. A White House spokesperson defended Lutnick this year, saying president Trump has assembled the best and and most transformative cabinet in modern history. Y' all imagine saying that with a straight face. The most transformative cabinet in modern history, okay? Matt Dallek, a historian and political management professor at George Washington University, said Lutnick would most certainly face questions over his credibility. It's risky business for him to go to before Congress and testify about Epstein, dallek said, because lo and behold, he visited the island with his kids. Trump, he added, will want to know how Lutnick performed. If Lutnick comes off as wishy washy or ineffective, Trump could sour on him, Dallic said. Especially if he wants a fall guy for the economy. Well, I'd say that that's probably a likely outcome. We know Trump's not going to go down for it. He's going to blame one of his subordinates like he always does. And Lutnick sure fits the bill, doesn't he? Lutnick has repeatedly denied mingling with Epstein. In a 2024 profile, Lutnick spokesperson told Forbes magazine that he had never had any association with Mr. Epstein. And in a podcast interview in October, Lutnick described visiting Epstein's townhouse with his wife Allison in 2005 and seeing a massage table in the middle of a room filled with candles. Lutnick said Epstein told him he received massages every day and got weirdly close to, say, the right kind of massage. That all sounded made up. Anyway, I don't believe that interaction happened. Sorry, don't believe it. Not for a minute. In fact, I bet you Lutnik was, you know, ribbon with him. Oh well, that's pretty cool. Maybe if I can get away from the wife one night, I'll come over. That's probably more how the conversation went in the six to eight steps to get from his house to my house, lutnick said. My wife and I decided that I will never be in the room with that disgusting person ever again. I was never in the room with them socially, for business or even philanthropy. He added. If that guy was there, I wasn't going because he's gross. Well that turned out to be a lie. And what, you think it was the only one. He also said in the podcast interview that Epstein was the greatest blackmailer ever. House Democrats have said they want to know why Lutnick believed that, especially after the Justice Department wrote in a memo in July that there was no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals. Khanna told reporters Wednesday that Lutnick was asked about the blackmail comment during his testimony. Lutnick clarified that he was just speculating and Epstein actually didn't engage in blackmail. Khanna said, well, gotta toe the party line, right? Gotta do what daddy Donald says. You don't want to get spanked, do you? Well, then again, maybe he does these weirdos. Kanna said that he was skeptical of the flip flop. That raises the question of what the COVID up is. Kanna said, did someone tell him to say that? Good question. I'd like to know that too. The files outline let Nick's occasional email contact with Epstein over nearly a decade. Emails appear in 2009, the year of Epstein's conviction, Epstein received a message saying Lutnick would like to speak to you. Two years later, they were arranging phone calls. One evening, Epstein scheduled Lutnick for drinks before dinner with director Woody Allen and fashion designer Vera Wang, according to his emails. The next day, Epstein suggested in an email that Lutnick forgot his phone. Well, well, well, what do you know? I'm sure that didn't happen though, right? Just another bunch of BS. In December of 2012, Epstein was scheduled to attend a breast cancer charity dinner at a large hotel ballroom for which the Lutnicks were among the co chairs. And two days before Christmas, the Lutnicks and their children, along with another family with young kids, plan to visit Epstein's home in the U. S. Virgin islands. The emails show what father brings their kids to a sex offender's island? Like real talk, it is unconscionable. Why would you bring your kids around somebody like this? Unless of course, you just don't care. The day after the visit, Epstein's assistant wrote to Lutnick, Jeffrey wished me to pass along the blow to you. Nice seeing you. Asked about the island visit at a senate appropriations subcommittee hearing in February, Lutnick said that there was nothing untoward about the interaction, but that he did not recall why his family agreed to go. How dumb is that? And does anyone really believe that you just decided, hey, let's go see Epstein. And everybody was like, okay, cool, let's go see Uncle Diddles. The files also show mutual financial Interests. A few days after the visit, both men were among the signers on a stock purchase agreement in Admin, a digital advertising technology company. I'm sure they didn't discuss that. Right. I'm sure their finances weren't intertwined. And if you're wondering why Epstein was never hit with rico, you're looking at the reason. The next year, the possible deal between the then Prince Andrew and Caner Fitzgerald began brewing. Andrew's a David Stern wanted Epstein's advice. Epstein called Lutnick smart. But he warned Stern and Andrew that he'll end up in the news because of his involvement with Lutnick, who had at the time a sports book and gambling technology company subject to audits and financial disclosures. Don't do it, Epstein wrote, warning in another email that Andrew will have holy hell to pay because of Lutnick's gaming affiliation. Well, that's true. The Gaming Commission in Vegas is very stringent and they're going to dive into your files for sure. The following month, Epstein advised Stern about what the terms of an agreement between Andrew and Counterfeit Gerald should look like, according to the emails. But when Stern asked Epstein two months later whether he had seen the proposal, Epstein replied in one word, goofy. It's unclear of what ultimately came of it, but Canter, Fitzgerald's spokesman, said in a statement that the firm has never had any business dealings with Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. Last year, King Charles removed Andrew's royal titles amid a growing scandal over his known ties to Epstein. In the following years, Epstein received three invitations to events involving Lutnick. Of course he did. Of course he did, because they were a lot closer than he ever let on. And he lied about it. And now he's caught. In the following years, Epstein received three invitations to events involving Lutnick. In late 2017, Epstein donated 50,000 to a Jewish philanthropic organization that was hosting a Wall street benefit dinner honoring Lutnick. The email show Epstein did not attend, but he wrote, tell Lutnick he can fill the table. So they wanted his money. They just didn't want the stink of him, right? Well, you can't come, but we'll take your dough. Their last email communication appears to be from the spring of 2018 over what was a pressing issue in their neighborhood. Are you aware as to them building to block our park views? What should we do about it? Time is of the essence, Lutnick wrote in a message sent to Epstein's assistant. The nearby Frick Collection art museum was gearing up for an expansion, threatening their coveted views of Central Park. Ludnick urged Epstein to write a letter to the city. In a later email, Epstein changed the subject. Another note. What do you think the prospects for Admin are? He was referring to the tech company whose stock they purchased in 2012, Lutnick responded, producing revenue. Finally, this is their year. Next 12 months. They need to become economically self sufficient. Admin would shutter in October 2019, three months after Epstein's second arrest and his death in jail. Well, to cover the tracks, right? The partners didn't want it to be known that Epstein was involved, so they covered their tracks. Now, as far as Lutnick goes again, I'm not saying he was involved in any kind of abuse or anything like that. There's no evidence of that. But what I am saying is that he lied about his relationship with Epstein, and even after this congressional hearing, I still think he's lying. But we have to get a look at the transcripts, right? We have to take a look for ourselves and see what's really there and what's not. And once those bad boys become available, we'll get them added to the catalog. All the information that goes with this episode can be found in the description box.
- [22:27]
A
Forget whatever plans you have this weekend because you're staying at home and playing on spinquest and there's never been a better time to sign up than right now. New users get $30 coin packs for just $10. All the table games you love with hundreds of slot games and real cash Prizes. That's at spinquest.com S P I N Q U-E-T.com Spinquest is a free to
- [22:50]
B
play social casino void where prohibited. Visit spinquest.com for more details.