A congressional investigation into the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has made public sworn interview transcripts from two high-profile figures: U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Gateway Computers co-founder billionaire Ted Waitt. As of the release, neither man has faced any accusations of misconduct related to Epstein’s alleged criminal network from victims or investigative bodies.
In his transcribed voluntary testimony before the House Oversight Committee on May 6, Lutnick outlined three brief encounters with Epstein, who was once his next-door neighbor in New York City. The commerce secretary, widely known as the key architect of the Trump administration’s global tariffs policy, told investigators that his first introduction to Epstein came in 2005, when he and his wife were invited to coffee at Epstein’s Manhattan home. During a tour of the residence, the couple was shown a room fitted with only a massage table and surrounded by candles. When Lutnick asked how often Epstein received massages there, the disgraced financier responded with a suggestive remark: “Every day and the right kind of massage.”
Lutnick told the panel he found the comment deeply off-putting, and he and his wife left the property immediately after the exchange. He added that he made an explicit decision right then to cut off all personal and professional ties with Epstein, a statement he had previously given to congressional investigators. But newly released court documents from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Epstein investigation earlier this year revealed a previously undisclosed visit Lutnick made to Epstein’s private Caribbean island in 2012, years after he claimed to have severed all contact. The revelation sparked bipartisan demands for Lutnick’s resignation from the Trump Cabinet.
During his recent testimony, Lutnick offered an explanation for the 2012 visit. He told the committee that Epstein’s staff reached out to his group unexpectedly while he was on a family vacation in St. Thomas, located just a short distance from Epstein’s private island. Lutnick said the unprompted contact left him unnerved, noting: “Without any communication for years, [how] would he inexplicably know where I’m going? It’s unsettling, actually.” The commerce secretary confirmed that he, his family, another couple and their children, plus accompanying staff, accepted the invitation for lunch. He emphasized that the group only dined outdoors on the island’s grounds and never entered any of the property’s buildings, describing the visit as unremarkable: “We sat outside, had lunch. It was boring. We left.” Lutnick also acknowledged one additional brief, casual interaction with Epstein in 2011 focused on construction scaffolding, which he described as completely meaningless and inconsequential.
Alongside Lutnick’s transcript, the committee also released the record of its April 30 interview with Waitt, the billionaire tech entrepreneur. Waitt detailed his six-year romantic relationship with Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s convicted co-conspirator, which ran from 2004 to 2010. Waitt told investigators he had very limited direct contact with Epstein and never witnessed any illegal or harmful activity during his relationship with Maxwell.
Waitt told the panel he understood Maxwell’s role with Epstein to be that of an estate manager, responsible for overseeing the financier’s multiple properties and staff. He added that he always felt uncomfortable with the dynamic between the pair, noting that Epstein held clear sway over Maxwell, who consistently deferred to him: “He did seem to have significant influence over her, she always kind of look[ed] up to him and I was not comfortable with that.” Waitt also confirmed that their relationship overlapped with Epstein’s 2008 guilty plea in Florida to charges related to the prostitution of a minor. He said Maxwell was subpoenaed to testify in the case during that time, and that she was visibly stressed by the legal proceedings but repeatedly denied any personal involvement in Epstein’s crimes.
Waitt stated that he and Maxwell never cohabitated, as he maintained a primary residence in California while she lived mostly in New York. He denied having any knowledge of abuse or misconduct by either Epstein or Maxwell, and said he had no awareness of Maxwell ever traveling to Epstein’s private island during their relationship. He added that Maxwell was not publicly identified as a co-conspirator in Epstein’s crimes until after their relationship ended, and he did not learn of the formal charges against her until she was arrested by federal authorities.