Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee have the votes to force Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to testify before their panel about his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) told reporters Friday.
“I believe we will have the votes to subpoena him,” Khanna said outside a performing arts center in Chappaqua, New York, where Oversight members were poised to begin their deposition of former President Bill Clinton.
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) also said Friday that she would ask for Lutnick’s appearance before the panel as part of its Epstein investigation, after materials released by the Justice Department revealed the extent of the former Cantor Fitzgerald CEO’s relationship with the disgraced financier.
Lutnick recently acknowledged that he took a trip to Epstein’s island in 2012 with his family, after he claimed that their relationship had ended after Epstein had been convicted of soliciting a prostitute. He has not been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein’s crimes.
The Commerce Department did not immediately return a request for comment.
It is the latest development in the Oversight Committee Democrats’ campaign to control the trajectory of the panel’s Epstein probe, even as they lack subpoena power as the minority party. The subpoena for the Justice Department’s Epstein files ultimately came from several Republicans joining with Democrats to support the measure.
“We’re going to continue to, you know, ask questions of everyone … that shows up in photos on the island and things like that,” House Oversight Chair James Comer told reporters Friday in Chappaqua.
The Kentucky Republican also suggested the public would be curious to hear what Hillary Clinton said about Lutnick.
“I think it’ll be interesting what Hillary Clinton said about Howard Lutnick,” Comer said, before Mace interjected: “And how she said it.”
Democrats are pushing for the unedited film footage of Thursday’s deposition with Hillary Clinton to be released quickly; Comer said he expected the video to be made public as soon as feasible.
