Trade Minister Howard Lutnick had a previously undisclosed plan to visit Jeffrey Epstein's private island in 2012, according to newly released Department of Justice documents. The trip was proposed months after Epstein pleaded guilty to two prostitution-related charges, including with a minor.
In December 2012, Lutnick emailed the island's assistant, Lesley Groff, saying he would be visiting with a large group of family and friends. He asked if Sunday for dinner sounded good, prompting an email from Epstein's assistant responding that the plan was to meet at Little St James on the island.
Lutnick later confirmed the plans, asking about 1 pm or 1:30 pm as a suitable time. His wife, Allison, also coordinated with Epstein's assistant, saying they were looking forward to visiting and describing their travel party.
In contrast, Prince Andrew, who had been introduced to Epstein by Lutnick, seemed more enthusiastic for the visit. Epstein had invited him to have dinner at his private island after he was released from jail in 2010 following a plea deal with federal prosecutors. The two had a cordial correspondence over the months leading up to the trip.
Andrew and Epstein's interaction has sparked controversy due to Andrew's close friendship with convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell, who was involved in arranging meetings between Jeffrey Epstein and several young women. Lutnick, who is married to Allison, has publicly denounced Epstein as "the greatest blackmailer ever," while his behavior during the trip raises questions about the connections he maintained with the late financier.
The Department of Commerce has said that Secretary Howard Lutnick had "limited interactions" with Epstein in the presence of his wife and denied any wrongdoing.
In December 2012, Lutnick emailed the island's assistant, Lesley Groff, saying he would be visiting with a large group of family and friends. He asked if Sunday for dinner sounded good, prompting an email from Epstein's assistant responding that the plan was to meet at Little St James on the island.
Lutnick later confirmed the plans, asking about 1 pm or 1:30 pm as a suitable time. His wife, Allison, also coordinated with Epstein's assistant, saying they were looking forward to visiting and describing their travel party.
In contrast, Prince Andrew, who had been introduced to Epstein by Lutnick, seemed more enthusiastic for the visit. Epstein had invited him to have dinner at his private island after he was released from jail in 2010 following a plea deal with federal prosecutors. The two had a cordial correspondence over the months leading up to the trip.
Andrew and Epstein's interaction has sparked controversy due to Andrew's close friendship with convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell, who was involved in arranging meetings between Jeffrey Epstein and several young women. Lutnick, who is married to Allison, has publicly denounced Epstein as "the greatest blackmailer ever," while his behavior during the trip raises questions about the connections he maintained with the late financier.
The Department of Commerce has said that Secretary Howard Lutnick had "limited interactions" with Epstein in the presence of his wife and denied any wrongdoing.
"The truth is rarely pure and never simple." - Oscar Wilde 
I know my friends and I were always wondering why he was constantly changing his social media settings to private lol anyway back to Epstein, what's crazy is that Lutnick was all about being friendly with him and it just makes sense that everyone wanted to be on good terms... but for real though, it's hard not to think about how many young people got hurt by these guys. 
I wish we could've known about this back in our history class 
This just makes things even more complicated.
... i mean, think about it, Lutnick knows EPSTEIN's assistant and they're all like "let's hang out on private island", no big deal... right? 
but here's the thing, Lutnick is married to his wife Allison and she's all in on it too 
. i'm not saying either of them are bad people or anything, but... how much did they know about EPSTEIN's shady dealings? 
and what about Prince Andrew, huh? He's basically BFFs with Ghislaine Maxwell, who's got some serious baggage 
. it just seems like all these rich ppl knew each other for the wrong reasons 
, like who cares right? Lutnick's visit to Epstein's island is super suspicious though, especially since he's always going on about how much he hates Epstein 
. I mean, why would anyone think Lutnick did anything wrong, anyway? It's not like he was just trying to schmooze with Epstein or anything 
.
.
? I mean, the dude was basically besties with Maxwell, who was involved in some pretty sketchy stuff. It's like, come on, Andy, you've got to do better than that 
.
). The whole thing is blown out of proportion, in my humble opinion.