Republican lawmaker calls for Howard Lutnick resign from Trump’s cupboard over Epstein ties | EUROtoday

Rep. Thomas Massie has known as for the resignation of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick following his ties to the late intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein, as revealed within the newest batch of paperwork launched by the Department of Justice.

The Republican consultant of Kentucky, who has led the cost in securing the discharge of the Epstein recordsdata, appeared on CNN’s Inside Politics Sunday and was requested whether or not Lutnick ought to testify earlier than Congress.

It emerged final week that Lutnick visited Epstein’s non-public Caribbean island along with his household on a minimum of one event and accepted an invite in 2012.

“He should just resign!” Massie advised CNN’s Manu Raju. “There are three people in Great Britain that have resigned in politics — the ambassador from Great Britain to the United States, the Prince lost his title for less than what we’ve seen Howard Lutnick lie about. If this were Great Britain, he’d already be gone.”

Massie was referring to former U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom, Peter Mandelson, who’s in the midst of a firestorm over his hyperlinks to Epstein, and Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, who was stripped of his title by his brother, King Charles III.

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“Look, Howard Lutnick clearly went to the island, if we believe what’s in these files. He was in business with Jeffrey Epstein. And this was many years after Jeffrey Epstein was convicted — you know, lightly sentenced, but was convicted for sexual crimes,” Massie continued. “So he’s got a lot to answer for. But really he should make life easier on the president, frankly, and just resign.”

The Independent has contacted the Commerce Department for remark.

The alleged revelations about Lutnick within the Epstein recordsdata contradict earlier claims that he reduce ties with the disgraced financier way back.

Emails present Lutnick and his spouse accepted an invite to Epstein’s island, Little St. James, within the U.S. Virgin Islands in December 2012 and deliberate to reach by yacht with their kids.

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Lutnick, a former chairman of Newmark, a significant business actual property agency, additionally had drinks with Epstein in 2011 and corresponded with him concerning the building of a constructing throughout the road from each their properties.

In an announcement, the Commerce Department stated Lutnick had “limited interactions with Mr. Epstein in the presence of his wife and has never been accused of wrongdoing.”

According to The New York TimesLutnick’s title appeared in additional than 250 paperwork within the Epstein recordsdata.

A consultant of the Commerce Department advised the outlet that Lutnick and his spouse met Epstein in 2005 and had “very limited interactions with him” within the years that adopted.