GOP lawmaker behind Congress’ Epstein push says Commerce Secretary Lutnick should resign over links

(CNN) — Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, a co-author of the law that compelled the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, on Sunday called on Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to resign over his links to the late sex offender.

Asked on CNN’s “Inside Politics” if Lutnick – who the files show as having planned meetings with Epstein long after saying he broke off contact – should testify, Massie responded, “No, he should just resign. I mean, there are three people in Great Britain that have resigned in politics.”

Lutnick said in an interview last year that after a 2005 encounter at Epstein’s home, he grew uncomfortable and vowed that he “will never be in the room with that disgusting person ever again.” But as CNN has previously reported, the documents reveal that Lutnick sought to meet with or call Epstein several times since 2005, including after Epstein pleaded guilty to procuring a minor for prostitution in 2008.

A Commerce Department spokesperson told CNN last month, “Secretary Lutnick had limited interactions with Mr. Epstein in the presence of his wife and has never been accused of wrongdoing.” CNN has reached out to the Commerce Department for a response to Massie’s latest comments.

The congressman said Lutnick has “a lot to answer for, but really, he should make life easier on the president, frankly, and just resign.”

Massie, who has been a thorn in President Donald Trump’s side in large part because of his push to compel the Department of Justice to release the files, also told CNN it is too soon to say if Congress should call on Trump to testify on his own links to Epstein.

“The Democrats want to make this about Trump, and the Republicans want to make it about the Clintons. I want to make it about the survivors and getting them justice and transparency,” Massie added.

In an interview with the New York Post’s “Pod Force One,” Lutnick described a creepy interaction alongside his wife with Epstein in 2005, when they were neighbors in New York City, which he said resulted in him no longer wanting to appear in the same room as Epstein.

“We share a wall, right? So it’s New York City, so he invites us in. We have coffee in this – and he says, ‘Do you want a tour?’” Lutnick told the New York Post. “He gives me a tour in the living room, big living room, and then across from it is double doors. I assume it’s the dining room, and he opens the doors, and there’s a massage table in the middle of the room and candles all around.”

“I say to him, massage table in the middle of your house, how often you have a massage?” Lutnick continues. “And he says, ‘Every day,’ and then he like gets, like, weirdly, close to me and he says, ‘And the right kind of massage.’”

Lutnick said that after that interaction, “I was never in the room with him socially for business or even philanthropy. If that guy was there, I wasn’t going, because he’s gross.”

While Lutnick described cutting ties with Epstein in 2005, the Justice Department released documents that suggest otherwise. CNN reported that Lutnick attempted to invite Epstein to a political fundraiser for Hillary Clinton in 2015. He also sought coordinates for his boat captain to link up with Epstein in 2012, presumably at his Caribbean island.

When CNN’s Kaitlan Collins pressed Trump about Lutnick and Telsa CEO Elon Musk being mentioned in the latest drop of Epstein-related files, he said, “I’m sure they’re fine. Otherwise, it would have been major headlines.”

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer did not give the impression that he intends to compel Lutnick to testify before Congress, despite his connections to Epstein.

“Lutnick, it’s my understanding that what he has said publicly is that he went to one of Epstein’s properties with his wife and children,” Comer said.

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CNN’s Zachary B. Wolf, Michael Williams and Manu Raju contributed to this report.