Jeffrey Epstein's Ties to Top Government Official Exposed

Howard Lutnick, a key figure in the. current administration, the Commerce. Secretary. This is a name that has come. up again and again and again in the. Jeffrey [music] Epstein saga with the. release of all these files. And now, he's agreed to testify before the House. Committee digging into Jeffrey Epstein's. network of connections. [music] The. problem? Lutnick has said he cut ties. with Epstein more than two decades ago, but [music] newly released documents may. tell a very different story. Time to. make sense of what we can expect here as. we do a full deep [music] dive into the. Howard Lutnick alleged connection to the.

accused sex trafficker. Welcome to. Sidebar, presented by Law & Crime. I'm. Jesse Weber. Okay, real quick [music] before we get. into this, I got to tell you about Proof. Wallets, our sponsor. Why? Cuz I started. hearing about these wallets everywhere. People are like, "This is the best. wallet you're ever going to have." I'm. here to tell you, the hype is real. Proof Wallets, first of all, veteran-owned company, built by. craftsmen who take pride in what they. make, [clears throat] and it shows. Look. how well they're designed. Also, super. secure. Not only are they RFID blocking,

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has become such a central figure in the. Jeffrey Epstein discussion, and. particularly now. The current Commerce. Secretary is going to testify in front. of the House Committee on Oversight and. Government Reform that has been. investigating this whole Epstein matter. I mean, they just released the videotape. depositions of Bill and Hillary Clinton. And by the way, we'll get to it a little. bit later, but he's mentioned in that. So, why Lutnick? Why does this matter? Why does he matter? Well, for a lot of. reasons. I mean, first, he's currently a.

major figure in the current Trump. administration. And two, his alleged. ties to Epstein raise a lot of. questions, particularly when you look at. the timing, and you look at his. statements on his association with the. disgraced, deceased sex offender. financier. And I want to explore what. the Epstein files reveal about Lutnick's. perceived connection with Epstein. And. by the way, in anticipation of his. testimony, I want to lay out what we. know here, what he could be asked, how. he might respond, because here's the.

problem. You see, Lutnick, the wealthy. businessman who was the former chairman. of the financial services firm Cantor. Fitzgerald, was neighbors with Jeffrey. Epstein in New York City. And the issue. for Lutnick is that he went on a podcast. last year, the Pod Force One podcast, and said that he and his wife decided to. no longer associate with Epstein in. 2005. That they met Epstein in October. 2005, went to visit his home, got a. tour. By the way, this is the place.

where there were allegations of abuse. And the Lutnicks, according to him, apparently see this massage table, there. are candles around it. Epstein, according to him, made sexually. suggestive comments. And Lutnick said. that he got creeped out. Said on the. pod, "And in the six to eight steps it. takes to get from his house to my house, 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 him socially, for business, or. even philanthropy. If that guy was. there, I wasn't going cuz he's gross. So, I look back at it as a gift. He gave.

me a gift." This is the problem. Lutnick actually admitted, and this was. in a Senate hearing last month, he was. in contact with Jeffrey Epstein and. traveled to his private island, Little. Saint James Island, years after he. originally said he cut ties with him. Oh, and I haven't even gotten into the. emails, okay? So, while Lutnick said to. the Senate Appropriations Committee or. the subcommittee, I did not have any. relationship with him. I barely had. anything to do with that person, okay?

And I did not have anything you could. call a relationship, anything you could. call an acquaintance. I literally met. him three times over 14 years, okay? But. with that, you got things like this. Like this apparent 2012 email from. Lutnick or seemingly from Lutnick to. Epstein. Hi Jeff, we're landing in St. Thomas early Saturday afternoon and. planning to head over to St. Barts, Anguilla on Monday at some point. Where. are you located? What is the exact.

location for my captain? Does Sunday. evening for dinner sound good? I have. another couple, Michael and Marcy Larman. with me on my boat and each of us has. four children, two 16s, two 14s, a 13, a. 12, an 11, and a 7-year-old. Thanks, Howard. Response back, below from. Jeffrey. Come Saturday or Sunday lunch, Little St. James on the map behind. Chrisman's Cove. By the way, a little. side note on that. It was reported by. outlets like CBS that there was a photo.

seemingly showing Lutnick with Epstein. on the island that was published as part. of the Epstein files release. We got a. hold of it ourselves. It's in the actual. Epstein files DOJ library. And the. problem with that it was reported that. it was removed and then it was. republished. And what it appears to be. is Lutnick standing by an ocean side. cliff with Epstein and a couple other. people. But here's the thing, too. There. are communications either between the. two, involving the two, that extended. all the way into 2018, the year before.

Epstein's arrest on federal sex. trafficking charges. How about this. email that Howard Lutnick had apparently. sent? Are you aware as to them building. to block our park views? What should we. do about it? Time is of the essence. Again, this is back in 2018. Now, Epstein eventually writes back to his. assistant regarding this message, "No, I. was not." Meaning, no, he wasn't aware. Now, that communication actually. continues with Lutnick writing, "You. should put in a letter. I'm sending a.

lawyer. Don't ignore this. They will. build exactly across from you. One, a. bus and group entrance. Two, a loading. dock for party rentals used almost every. weekend. Three, a massive building to. block your sunlight and views. They are. trying to jam it through. It matters. that we fight. My real estate lawyer is. attending and will vehemently object. Write a letter and send a lawyer. Delay. at least so they don't pass it tomorrow. Supposedly, the chairperson retires. tomorrow after this meeting. Do it must. be stopped. If they want more space, why.

not buy the adjacent building townhouse. gallery on 70th, which is for sale?" In. response back to Lutnick from a redacted. says, "Jeffrey has responded, will do.". You see, the biggest issue or challenge. facing Lutnick and why you've heard. calls for his resignation is not just. the seemingly about-face, but also that. he apparently maintains some level of. contact with Epstein or was in Epstein's. orbit after Epstein had already been. convicted in Florida in 2008 on charges.

of solicitation of prostitution. including that of a minor. That's what. separates him from the Clintons because. they didn't appear to have contact with. Jeffrey Epstein after all that. And. there doesn't appear to be any active. criminal investigation into Howard. Lutnick. Okay? No one's suggesting that. he allegedly participated in anything. that Epstein was up to. But the. connection matters. You know, the. Lutnick name appears in more than 240. entries in the Epstein library on the. DOJ website. Obviously, we got to talk.

about this. And now he's going to. testify. I mean, you go all the way back. to 2009. Found this email that was sent. to Epstein. Howard Lutnick would like to. speak to you. One of his employees asked. me if Howard could have your number, so. he may call you. Would you like me to. give him your number? They did not give. me Howard's number. Again, this is the. year after that 2008 conviction. Now, before I go any further, okay, how about. this? This is important to note, too. Lutnick's name appears in a child. exploitation and human trafficking task. force PowerPoint presentation about the.

Jeffrey Epstein investigation. This is. in the Epstein files. He is listed under. prominent names, and it says, "Howard. Lutnick redacted reported that Lutnick. made his money through Ponzi schemes and. money laundering. Lutnick and Epstein. were neighbors, and Epstein sold Lutnick. a home for 10, which was then sold for. millions." Now, again, this seems to be. allegations that were compiled in this. PowerPoint presentation, but it's. significant. I had to mention it. So, now I want to go through some of the. emails, and I'll take it year by year.

2011. 2011, lot of communications in. 2011. So, this one, for example, is from. Epstein's assistant, Lesley Groff, who. appears a lot in the Epstein files, to. Epstein. It says, "Howard Lutnick will. come see you at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, May. 1st." How about this? Calendar. appointments. This document, seemingly. for Epstein, in 2011. 5:00 p.m. appointment with Howard Lutnick, drinks. There was an email sent to Jeffrey. Epstein on May 2nd, 2011, from redacted. "The phone was Howard Lutnick's. It has.

been collected." Another 2011. communication. Look at this email sent. to Epstein. "Howard Lutnick is on an. airplane headed overseas. His office. would like to know if you would like to. set up a call while he is away, or if. you prefer to speak with him on Monday, April 4th, when he is back." And it. continues. Epstein was told in a 2011. email, "Howard Lutnick returned your. call." Another email sent to Epstein. "Also, Howard Lutnick is available today. from 10:00 to 2:00 in the office. I will. add him to our list today." Later on in. 2011, you have this one from Epstein's.

assistant, again, Lesley Groff, to. Epstein. "FYI, Howard Lutnick's. assistant called asking if you would be. available to speak with Howard today.". Now, to be clear, we don't know the. substance of these conversations and. whether or not these meetings happened, but you're seeing it, right? You're. seeing these connections. You need an. explanation for why Lutnick seemingly. wanted to be in contact with Epstein and. maybe vice versa. What was going on. here? Then you go back to 2012. I. mentioned that whole visit to Epstein's. Island. There's more communication about. that from Lutnick's wife, Allison. Lutnick. So, she apparently emails.

Epstein's assistant again, Lesley Groff. Says, "Hi Lesley, we are heading towards. you from St. Thomas. Where should we. anchor exactly? What is your phone. number?" The response back, "Hi Allison, great to hear you're headed over. I'm. actually not on the island. I just spoke. to redacted and redacted will be sending. you an email with more instructions. I. think they need to know what kind of. boat you are on so they can instruct you. properly. Thanks and have a great day, Lesley." And the response back, "188-foot yacht." Now, more from that. year, like this email from Epstein's.

assistant to Lutnick, "Good morning, Howard. Jeffrey wished me to pass along. the below to you. Nice seeing you. Please read number 2.3." So again, that. become a question how often they saw. each other, how often they talked on the. phone. What about 2013? Now, this is. significant. Lutnick and Epstein both. appear to be signatories on a contract, a stock purchase agreement. CBS News. reports that they signed on behalf of. LLCs, limited liability companies, to. acquire an ownership stake in an ad.

technology company called Adfin. So, you're seeing what appears to be not. just personal, but business aspects of. the relationship, too. Although, I will. be clear about this. There is a source. close to Howard Lutnick who told CBS. News, quote, "Cantor Fitzgerald" and. then remember this is the firm that. Lutnick had worked at. "Cantor. Fitzgerald was a small minority investor. in Adfin. At the time of doing the deal. as a minority investor, Mr. Lutnick. would not have any knowledge of who the. other investors were." True, although I.

do wonder if he had a copy of the. agreement, would he have seen that. Jeffrey Epstein was on there? I don't. know, just something to think about. What about this from Epstein's. accountant Richard Kahn to Epstein. Attached is a resume of Lutnick Nanny. I. am trying to arrange a time via Peter. for you to meet her. Yet another 2013. email, Epstein was asked, "What is your. view on Howard Lutnick?" Just met him. with PA and Epstein responds, "My. neighbor, smart." Didn't say, "Don't. really know him." Didn't really say, "No.

idea. You know, he's my neighbor. I. don't really talk." But my neighbor, smart. 2015, Lutnick apparently invites Epstein. to a Hillary Clinton fundraiser. 2017, Epstein apparently contributes to. honoring Howard Lutnick. This is an. email from Epstein's assistant. So this. email is from 2017. Hello Amanda, Jeffrey Epstein will be contributing to. the UJA Wall Street dinner honoring. Howard Lutnick. Can you please provide. an address to where we can FedEx a check. to? Whose attention? Anything else we. should know? Reportedly, Epstein ended.

up donating $50,000. again, Epstein's. former accountant Richard Kahn. It says, "Amanda, check from Jeffrey will be from. his foundation Gratitude America in the. amount of 50,000.". Now there's more communication about. that one from Epstein to himself, by the. way, where Epstein sends an email to a. John Paulson who apparently was UJA's. chairman of its Wall Street and. Financial Services Division writing, "50K for me. Hope PR is okay.". Then you get a response from a David. Ratner days later who also appears to.

work or affiliated with UJA Federation. of New York. Hi Jeffrey, many thanks for. your incredible donation in honor of. Howard Lutnick. Would you like to take. an ad and offer your own words of. congratulations in our commemorative. journal? Are you able to join us at the. event itself on December 11th and would. you like to take a table inclusive of. your generosity? Thank you. And then of. course, when we go to 2018, I mentioned. it before, that whole correspondence. about the building and if they're. constructing something around it, it's. going to obstruct the views, all that.

Here's the problem. How does Howard. Lutnick explain these connections and. communications given his prior. statements, particularly when he's going. to be under oath and under penalty of. perjury? Now, to be very clear, I'm not. saying that he's going to lie. I'm not. saying that he's going to misrepresent. the facts or the timeline, but clearly. there appear to be discrepancies in his. statements and the timeline. And that is. something that he's going to have to. address, particularly since there is. even more renewed attention on him after. more files are being released, and. people, and by the way, members of. Congress have had more time to digest. and analyze them. And you know, this is.

interesting. I mentioned that Lutnick testified in. front of the Senate. Well, he was. grilled by Senator Chris Van Hollen, who. said, quote, "The issue is not that you. engaged in any wrongdoing connection. with Jeffrey Epstein, but that you. totally misrepresented the extent of. your relationship with him to the. Congress, to the American people, and to. the survivors of his despicable criminal. and predatory acts." Now, here's what. Lutnick had to say at that hearing. >> Probably the total, and you've seen all.

of these documents, of these millions. and millions of documents, there may be. 10 emails. connecting me with him, probably about. 10 emails connecting me with him over a. 14-year period. I did not have any. relationship with him. I barely had. anything to do with that person. Okay? >> But again, is that true? Yes, there's. nothing in the emails that suggest. something nefarious, but it does raise. other questions of why he would want to.

stay in touch with somebody who was. convicted of sex crimes, and why, by the. way, Epstein would want an association. with him. Did he just think that Howard. Lutnick is smart? He liked him. personally? Or is it about wealth? Is it. about power? Is it about status? It's. always a question of what Epstein was. after. Why was he trying to make these. connections? Now, Lutnick will probably. testify in the same fashion from the way. he spoke to the Senate if I had to. guess, right? Now, I will say could be. difficult to impeach his credibility. particularly when you're talking about.

events from so many years ago, but it. might be tough unless they have some. sort of emails or text messages or. witnesses to come forward and suggest. that there's more to the story than what. Howard Lutnick testifies to. But again, this isn't Congress filing criminal. charges. They don't have the ability to. do that. They can refer a criminal. matter to the DOJ if they believe. there's evidence of that. But their. whole goal is to try to get an. understanding of the whole Epstein saga, provide more transparency to the. American public, and really their goal. is to see if there needs to be a change. in the law. Does there need to be a.

reform of the law to prevent Epstein. 2.0, to address any gaps in what might. have happened. And again, just to get. more information about this. And I think. they might be also difficult when you're. talking about Howard Lutnick. Will he. provide the responses that provide more. answers here? Maybe, maybe not. But. look, him coming in is a big deal. And. as Chairman of the House Oversight. Committee James Comer said, "Secretary. Lutnick has proactively agreed to appear. voluntarily before the House Committee. on Oversight and Government Reform for a. transcribed interview. I commend his. demonstrated commitment to transparency.

and appreciate his willingness to engage. with the committee. I look forward to. his testimony." So, you don't even have. the issue of a subpoena or enforcing a. subpoena that would be necessary here. He's going to come in voluntarily. You. had a Commerce Department spokesperson. who said in a statement, "This is. nothing more than a failing attempt by. the legacy media to distract from the. administration's accomplishments. including securing trillions of dollars. in investment, delivering historic trade. deals, and fighting for the American. worker." Mr. and Mrs. Lutnick met. Jeffrey Epstein in 2005 and had very. limited interactions with him over the.

next 14 years. White House spokesperson. Kush Desai said, "President Trump. maintains complete confidence in. Secretary Lutnick because he has been. the most transformative Commerce. Secretary in modern history and is a. champion of the president's America. first trade and tariffs policies." Now, another way to view this is what. representative Thomas Massie said about. Lutnick. Basically said Lutnick said he. knew Jeffrey Epstein was a despicable. abhorrent human being and had nothing to. do with him and then he partied on his. island with his kids with this guy. How. do you trust that guy? By the way, when.

former Secretary of State First Lady. Hillary Clinton was deposed in front of. this committee and her video taped. deposition was released, she was asked. about Howard Lutnick and it got tense. >> Did it concern you at all that Ghislaine. Maxwell was heavily involved with people. you knew and were close to? >> I knew people that I knew knew her. Yes, that's true. >> And you didn't You just shrugged. You. didn't want to look into it or. >> You know, nobody You know, until her. crimes were revealed and she was. indicted and tried and convicted, I. don't think.

people knew uh very much about at all. >> And then how do you know Howard Lutnick? >> I know Howard Lutnick because when I was. senator, on 9/11, the firm he headed, Cantor. Fitzgerald, suffered the greatest loss. of life. As I recall, something like 650. of his employees were murdered by. terrorists that day. Howard Lutnick missed being a victim. because he was delayed dropping his.

child off to kindergarten. >> You asked the question. I'm going to. answer your question. This was what I. spent my time doing. >> I'm a survivor. I was I was trying to. look out for others. I was trying to. help. >> people who lost 3,000 lives at the World. Trade Center. >> You asked me about Howard Lutnick. >> I have emails with Epstein myself. You. have emails. You've denied that Jeffrey. Epstein that you tried to get Jeffrey. Epstein to give money to you. But Howard. Lutnick was used in an email with me.

asking Jeffrey Epstein for money. Howard. Lutnick sending it to Jeffrey Epstein. and his people to raise money for you. for an event an intimate event for you. at his office at Cantor Fitzgerald. You. didn't sit here today. >> You asked me and. obfuscate and say to this committee you. didn't try to get money from Jeffrey. Epstein when there was an intimate event. in an email that Howard Lutnick emailed. to Epstein's people and Epstein to get. him to come to your intimate event at. Cantor Fitzgerald, a very small event.

And so I'm not going to public You want. to yell at me, that's fine, but I'll. yell right back, okay? I am looking out. for survivors. I'm doing the job that. you would not do and refuse to do as. Secretary of State. Thank you and I. yield back to the speaker. >> I'm going to finish answering the. question, which I have a right to do. I am very. sympathetic to your. personal situation. I have read about. it. I have seen you testify or speak on. the floor about it. And I very much sympathize with not only.

what you went through, but appreciate. your effort to stand up for survivors. I was a senator representing. the people who were murdered on 9/11. Nobody lost more people than Howard. Lutnick. You can say whatever you want, you can call him and have him appear. before the committee. But I knew him. I knew him as the man. who lost the employees that he knew. intimately including his brother.

>> And he was a witness to you and Jeffrey. Epstein raising money for you. >> Let her finish answering, please. >> You know what? >> [clears throat]. >> If you don't want to hear what. emotionally affected me, that's fine. But that's why I know Howard Lutnick. I. went to the memorial service every 9/11. after the formal service was held. >> you're doing here. You're obfuscating. from the questions. He was a witness to. you and. >> you and Jeffrey Epstein raising money. for you. >> Well, you know, Howard Lutnick and I did. work together because we had a lot of.

victims. that take care of and we worked together. to rebuild downtown Manhattan. That is. how I know Howard Lutnick. >> Now, will Lutnick be asked about the. Clintons? Time will tell. I'll tell you. at the time of this recording, no date. has been set as of yet for his. deposition, but we'll keep a very. careful eye out. But, that's all we have. for you right now here on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so much for joining. us. And as always, [music] please. subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you get your podcast. We're also up on NBC's Peacock as well. [music] If you want to follow me, X,

Instagram, my NewsNation show, Jesse. Watters Primetime, Monday through. Friday, 11:00 p.m. Eastern. I'll see you. next time, everybody.