Newly unsealed Department of Justice documents reveal that U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and his family planned a visit to Jeffrey Epstein’s private island in 2012—seven years after the billionaire businessman claimed to have severed ties with the convicted sex offender.
The documents, comprising millions of pages released by the DOJ on Friday, include email correspondence showing Lutnick, his wife Allison, their four children, and another family arranged to visit Little Saint James, Epstein’s Caribbean estate purchased in 1998.
In a December 2012 email, Allison Lutnick wrote to Epstein’s assistant: “We are looking forward to visiting you. We will be coming from Caneel Bay in the morning. We are a crowd… 2 families each with 4 kids ranging in age from 7-16!” She specifically requested joining Epstein for lunch during their visit.
Separate emails show Howard Lutnick directly communicating with Epstein, writing: “Hi Jeff, We are landing in St. Thomas early Saturday afternoon and planning to head over to St. Bart’s/Anguilla on Monday at some point…. Does Sunday evening for dinner sound good?” Lutnick requested specific location details for his boat captain and confirmed another family would be accompanying them.
Additional correspondence from December 24, 2012, includes a message to Lutnick stating Epstein wanted to pass along that it was “Nice seeing you,” suggesting at least one encounter occurred.
These communications contradict Lutnick’s October 2025 statements to The New York Post, where he claimed to have cut ties with Epstein in 2005 after an uncomfortable encounter at Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse. Lutnick described Epstein showing off his massage room and making suggestive comments about “the right kind of massage,” prompting Lutnick and his wife to vow “never to be in the room with that disgusting person ever again.”
The Commerce Department issued a statement maintaining that “Secretary Lutnick had limited interactions with Mr. Epstein in the presence of his wife and has never been accused of wrongdoing.” The released emails contain no indications of illegal activity.
The document release represents the largest trove of Epstein-related materials made public since legislation mandated their disclosure last year, including 3 million pages, 180,000 images, and 2,000 videos.
Epstein was convicted in 2008 for soliciting sex from a minor and died in jail in 2019 while facing sex trafficking charges.