Lutnick, a key member of the Trump administration, faces Senate questioning over his 2012 meeting with Epstein.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick downplays his ties to child sex abusers Jeffrey Epstein after newly released emails shared details of their interaction.

Facing calls for his resignation, Lutnick told a Senate committee on Tuesday that he “barely knew” Epstein, despite emails that appeared to contradict his previous description of their relationship.

“I have no relationship with him. I have almost no relationship with that guy,” Lutnick said.

The commerce secretary is the latest member of the political and financial elite to come under pressure over his association with the disgraced financier.

presidential administration Donald Trump The president has come under special scrutiny for his handling of government documents related to Epstein and the president’s own years-long relationship with the convicted sex offender.

During Tuesday’s hearing, lawmakers pressed Lutnick over comments he made on a podcast last year, explaining that after meeting Epstein in 2005, he promised to “never be in a room with that disgusting man again.”

Lutnick said he made the decision after Epstein showed him and his wife a massage table prominently located in his residence and made sexually suggestive comments.

But recently released emails suggest Lutnick may have visited Epstein’s private island for a lunch in 2012 and may have met on other occasions.

“You led people to believe that you had severed all ties with Jeffrey Epstein after you and your wife met at his apartment in 2005,” Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen told Lutnick during a committee hearing.

“But as I’m sure you know, the Epstein documents show a very different record of interactions.”

However, Lutnick downplayed his interactions with Epstein and stressed that nothing “unpleasant” happened in the 2012 meeting.

“I know, and my wife knows, that I did absolutely nothing wrong in any way possible,” Lutnick said.

The apparent contradiction emerged on January 30 when the Justice Department released 3 million pages of Epstein-related records in an attempt to satisfy bipartisan demands. Epstein files transparency bill.

In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor, but he continued to maintain close relationships with some of the most influential figures in politics, business, culture and science over the years.

In 2019, Epstein was arrested again and charged with federal sex trafficking crimes. That year, he was found dead in his cell, and the medical examiner ruled it a suicide.

His ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year sentence for her role in Epstein’s crimes, including child sex trafficking.

But critics argue that few of those involved in Epstein’s crimes have faced any consequences.

The British government is currently facing a political crisis over Epstein’s relationship with the country’s former ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson.

In October, King Charles III also stripped his brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor of his titles as evidence mounted about his ties to Epstein.

But there are few signs that a similar reckoning is imminent in the United States. Trump has previously called the review of Epstein’s documents a “hoax” and a “scam” led by Democrats.

Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, the two lawmakers spearheading the Epstein Documents Transparency Act, have both called on Lutnick to resign.

“This is bringing down the British government. It’s probably bringing down the monarchy. It’s bringing down the elite,” Khanna, a Democrat, said on Monday. “What are we doing in the United States to confront the Epstein class? We have a commerce secretary whose dossier is everywhere.”

Massie, a Republican, wrote on social media that Lutnick’s contradictory comments raised issues that needed to be addressed.

“Long after Lutnick said he went their separate ways, and even after Epstein was convicted of sex crimes, Lutnick went to the island and entered into business dealings with Epstein,” Massey said. “What else was Lutnick covering up about his relationship with Epstein?”