The Democratic senator emphasized that he was not alleging any wrongdoing, but he said the secretary “misled the country and the Congress based on your earlier statements suggesting you had cut off all contact.” Rep. Thomas Massie (Ky.), the lead GOP co-sponsor of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, last week called on Lutnick to resign, becoming the only Republican in Congress to do so. When asked whether he was concerned about Lutnick’s visit to the island after Epstein’s conviction on soliciting prostitution from a minor, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) warned that prominent individuals named in the Epstein files will face public scrutiny. “Anybody who is mentioned in the context of Epstein is probably going to have to answer those questions,” he said, adding that he has not followed “Lutnick-Epstein discussion.” Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) defended Lutnick from criticism, dismissing calls for his resignation. “It’s absurd. Howard Lutnick is a great Commerce secretary. He’s done an extraordinary job for the country,” Johnson told CNN’s Manu Raju.
















