2026-05-06T06:00:41-04:00 / 福克斯新闻频道
这位商务部长声称自己已于2005年与爱泼斯坦断绝关系，但后来承认曾于2012年在爱泼斯坦的加勒比海岛共进午餐
作者：亚当·帕克 福克斯新闻频道
发布于2026年5月6日 美国东部时间早上6:00
“我没什么可隐瞒的”：部长在议员质疑其与爱泼斯坦会面时进行反驳
商务部长霍华德·卢特尼克正面临关于其与已定罪性犯罪者杰弗里·爱泼斯坦过往联系的质询。他坚称自己“没什么可隐瞒的”，但在国会山的紧张交锋中拒绝透露具体细节。（图片来源：C-SPAN）
全新内容：您现在可以收听福克斯新闻的文章了！
收听本文
时长4分钟
众议院监督委员会针对已故性犯罪者杰弗里·爱泼斯坦的调查本周将焦点转向了另一位高调的特朗普政府官员。
商务部长霍华德·卢特尼克自愿于周三出席国会小组的转录采访，接受关于他与爱泼斯坦此前关系的质询。爱泼斯坦于2019年在因联邦性贩运指控被起诉后自杀身亡。
卢特尼克同意接受委员会询问，此前南卡罗来纳州共和党众议员南希·梅斯承诺将推动投票传唤他作证。
目前尚不确定会有多少议员出席，因为众议院本周处于选区休假时段，也就是休会期。不过，卢特尼克仍可能面临众议院监督委员会 ranking member（注：少数党领袖）加利福尼亚州民主党众议员罗伯特·加西亚以及其他民主党议员的严厉盘问，他们指责卢特尼克隐瞒了自己与爱泼斯坦过往联系的全部实情。
美国司法部公布的一张未注明日期的照片显示，杰弗里·爱泼斯坦（中）与霍华德·卢特尼克（中右，身着蓝色衬衫和白色短裤）。（美国司法部 供图）
众议院监督委员会要求邦迪和卢特尼克就爱泼斯坦调查提供证词
“部长期待在自愿出席监督委员会作证时，在公开场合回答任何问题，”商务部发言人在接受福克斯新闻数字频道采访时表示。“他期待能平息媒体上那些旨在转移人们对商务部正在推进的历史性工作注意力的不准确且毫无根据的指控。”
卢特尼克是亿万富翁商人，曾担任华尔街公司Cantor Fitzgerald的首席执行官。他在去年接受《纽约邮报》采访时表示，自己已于2005年与爱泼斯坦断绝联系。两人曾是曼哈顿上东区的隔壁邻居——他们的联排别墅共用一堵墙。
然而，在今年2月的参议院听证会上，这位商务部长承认，在有文件显示他们的联系持续到2005年之后，他和家人曾于2012年在爱泼斯坦的私人加勒比海岛共进了一顿短暂的午餐。
“我带着所有孩子、保姆和妻子一起离开的。我们全家都在那里度假，”卢特尼克对议员们说。“我不记得我们为什么这么做，但我们确实去了。”
这次海岛之行是在爱泼斯坦在佛罗里达州法院因教唆未成年卖淫被判有罪四年后发生的。这位声名狼藉的金融家仅服刑13个月，且获得了联邦起诉豁免权，批评人士称这是一份“宽大交易”。
国会民主党人抓住了卢特尼克在4月众议院预算委员会作证时说法不一致的问题。
2026年2月10日，商务部长霍华德·卢特尼克在华盛顿特区参议院拨款小组委员会关于商务、司法、科学及相关机构的听证会上作证。（伊丽莎白·弗朗茨/路透社 供图）
哈基姆·杰弗里斯三次拒绝回答关于普拉斯基特与爱泼斯坦往来信息是否恰当的问题
“你为什么要撒谎说自己和杰弗里·爱泼斯坦的关系？”宾夕法尼亚州民主党众议员玛德琳·迪恩在紧张的听证会上质问卢特尼克。
卢特尼克没有直接回答这个问题，反而辩称迪恩的询问与听证会主题——商务部下一财年的预算申请——无关。
这位商务部长一直坚称自己与爱泼斯坦的联系有限，且未被指控有任何不当行为。
众议院监督委员会主席、肯塔基州共和党众议员詹姆斯·科默称赞了卢特尼克出席转录采访的决定。
“我赞扬他展现出的透明度承诺，并感谢他愿意与委员会合作，”科默在3月份发给福克斯新闻数字频道的一份声明中说道。“我期待他的证词。”
2025年10月21日，众议院监督委员会主席、肯塔基州共和党众议员詹姆斯·科默在华盛顿特区美国国会山的新闻发布会上发言。（塔索斯·卡托波兹/盖蒂图片社 供图）
卢特尼克并非本月该委员会爱泼斯坦调查中唯一面临质询的特朗普政府官员。
点击此处下载福克斯新闻APP
前司法部长帕姆·邦迪在被科默的委员会传唤后，定于5月29日接受转录采访。民主党人和少数共和党人曾威胁，如果邦迪不同意出席委员会作证，将对其提起藐视国会的指控。
福克斯新闻数字频道已联系白宫，但在发稿前未收到回复。
Howard Lutnick forced to face Jeffrey Epstein ties during House Oversight hearing
2026-05-06T06:00:41-04:00 / Fox News
The Commerce secretary claimed he cut ties with Epstein in 2005 but later admitted to a 2012 lunch on Epstein’s Caribbean island
By Adam Pack Fox News
Published May 6, 2026 6:00am EDT
‘I have nothing to hide’: Secretary pushes back as lawmaker questions Epstein meetings
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick faces questions about past contact with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He insists he has “nothing to hide” while declining to address specifics during a tense Capitol Hill exchange. (Credit: C-SPAN)
NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!
Listen to this article
4 min
The House Oversight Committee’s probe into late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is turning focus to another high-profile Trump administration figure this week.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is voluntarily appearing before the congressional panel on Wednesday for a transcribed interview regarding his prior relationship with Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 after being indicted on federal sex trafficking charges.
Lutnick’s agreement to speak to the committee came after Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., pledged to force a vote to subpoena his testimony.
It is unclear how many lawmakers will attend, as the House of Representatives is in a district work period, also known as recess, this week. Still, Lutnick could face a grilling from House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Robert Garcia, D-Calif., and other Democrats who have accused him of hiding the full scope of his past ties to Epstein.
An undated photo released by the Department of Justice shows Jeffrey Epstein, center, and Howard Lutnick, center right, in blue shirt and white shorts.(Department of Justice)
HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE DEMANDS DEPOSITIONS FROM BONDI AND LUTNICK IN EPSTEIN PROBE
“The secretary looks forward to addressing any questions on the record when he testifies voluntarily before the Oversight Committee,” a Department of Commerce spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “He looks forward to putting to rest the inaccurate and baseless claims in the media designed to distract from his historic work underway at the Commerce Department.”
Lutnick, a billionaire businessman and former CEO of Wall Street firm Cantor Fitzgerald, said during an interview with the New York Post last year that he broke off ties with Epstein in 2005. The two were formerly next-door neighbors in Manhattan’s Upper East Side neighborhood — their townhomes shared a wall.
However, the Commerce secretary conceded in a Senate hearing in February that he and his family had a brief lunch with Epstein in 2012 at his private Caribbean island after files dropped showing their contact continued beyond 2005.
“We left with all of my children, with my nannies and my wife. All together. We were on a family vacation,” Lutnick told lawmakers. “I don’t recall why we did it, but we did.”
That visit to the island came four years after Epstein was found guilty in Florida state court of soliciting a minor for prostitution. The disgraced financier served just 13 months in prison while being given immunity from federal prosecution, which critics have called a sweetheart deal.
Congressional Democrats seized on the discrepancies in Lutnick’s accounts during his testimony before the House Budget Committee in April.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick testifies before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 10, 2026.(Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters)
HAKEEM JEFFRIES REFUSES THREE TIMES TO ANSWER QUESTION ABOUT APPROPRIATENESS OF PLASKETT’S EPSTEIN MESSAGES
“Why did you lie about your relationship with Jeffrey Epstein?” Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., asked Lutnick during the tense hearing.
Lutnick did not answer the question directly, instead arguing that Dean’s inquiry was not relevant to the hearing topic: the Commerce Department’s budget request for the upcoming fiscal year.
The Commerce secretary has maintained that his connection to Epstein was limited, and he has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., praised Lutnick’s decision to appear for a transcribed interview.
“I commend his demonstrated commitment to transparency and appreciate his willingness to engage with the Committee,” Comer said in a March statement to Fox News Digital. “I look forward to his testimony.”
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., speaks at a press conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 21, 2025.(Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
Lutnick is not the only Trump administration official to face questions this month as part of the committee’s Epstein probe.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Former Attorney General Pam Bondi is scheduled to sit for a transcribed interview on May 29 after being subpoenaed by Comer’s committee. Democrats and a handful of Republicans had vowed to pursue contempt charges against Bondi over her handling of Epstein files if she did not agree to testify before the committee.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House but did not hear back before publication.
发表回复