{"id":10178,"date":"2026-02-15T16:42:51","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T16:42:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2026\/02\/15\/lutnicks-epstein-ties-raise-concerns-on-wall-street-but-not-in-the-white-house-cnn\/"},"modified":"2026-02-15T16:42:51","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T16:42:51","slug":"lutnicks-epstein-ties-raise-concerns-on-wall-street-but-not-in-the-white-house-cnn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2026\/02\/15\/lutnicks-epstein-ties-raise-concerns-on-wall-street-but-not-in-the-white-house-cnn\/","title":{"rendered":"Lutnick\u2019s Epstein ties raise concerns on Wall Street \u2014 but not in the White House – CNN"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

When Howard Lutnick had a problem in 2018, he turned to his next-door neighbor for help: Jeffrey Epstein. <\/p>\n

Lutnick emailed Epstein\u2019s assistant in May 2018 about a proposed expansion<\/a> to the Frick Collection, a museum one block south of Lutnick\u2019s and Epstein\u2019s adjacent townhouses on East 71st Street in Manhattan. <\/p>\n

\u201cAre you aware as to them building to block our park views. What should we do about it? Time is of the essence,\u201d wrote Lutnick,<\/a> who was then the CEO of Wall Street firm Cantor Fitzgerald. <\/p>\n

\u201cNo i was not,\u201d Epstein responded after his assistant forwarded Lutnick\u2019s email. <\/p>\n

The email exchange shows that Lutnick, now President Donald Trump\u2019s commerce secretary, communicated with Epstein more than a decade after he claimed he cut off all contact with the convicted sex offender who died in 2019. <\/p>\n

A CNN review of the Epstein documents show numerous interactions between the two men, including an invitation from Lutnick<\/a> to attend a Hillary Clinton fundraiser in 2015, a $50,000 donation<\/a> from Epstein for a 2017 dinner honoring Lutnick, a 2013 business venture both invested in<\/a>, and multiple emails<\/a> in which Lutnick set up a 2012 visit to Epstein\u2019s infamous Caribbean island with his wife, nannies and children. <\/p>\n

Lutnick, the highest-ranking Trump administration official prominently named in the Epstein files \u2014 outside of the president himself \u2014 has faced calls for his resignation on Capitol Hill, where he was grilled<\/a> Tuesday during a Senate hearing over his ties to Epstein and confirmed he visited<\/a> Epstein at his island with his family for lunch. Lutnick has not been accused of any wrongdoing related to Epstein. <\/p>\n

\"Secretary<\/picture> <\/div>\n

Interviews with executives and others on Wall Street, where the former Cantor Fitzgerald CEO is viewed skeptically in some corners, show that the Epstein disclosures have sparked a fresh round of questions about Lutnick\u2019s future and his role as cheerleader<\/a> of Trump\u2019s tariff-driven trade agenda. <\/p>\n

\u201cLutnick\u202fwas grossly deceptive. And\u202fit\u2019s\u202fnot an\u202fambiguous\u202fcall,\u201d Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, founder\u202fof the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute, said of Lutnick\u2019s claims he ended all contact with Epstein in 2005. \u201cEvery CEO who shakes hands with\u202fHoward\u202fLutnick\u202fwill want to\u202fwash\u202fthem afterwards.\u201d <\/p>\n

But inside the White House, there\u2019s no indication that Lutnick \u2014 perhaps one of the few Cabinet secretaries Trump considers a personal friend \u2014 will face any repercussions. Lutnick traveled with the president on Friday on Air Force One to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where Trump gave his commerce secretary a shoutout during his speech. <\/p>\n

If the president\u2019s support for Lutnick ever wavers, it won\u2019t be over the Epstein files \u2014 an issue that Trump has sought unsuccessfully to bury for months, including urging Americans earlier this month to \u201cget onto something else,\u201d people familiar with internal White House discussions told CNN. <\/p>\n

A Commerce Department spokesperson said in a statement: \u201cThis is nothing more than a failing attempt by the legacy media to distract from the administration\u2019s accomplishments including securing trillions of dollars in investment, delivering historic trade deals and fighting for the American worker.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cMr. and Mrs. Lutnick met Jeffrey Epstein in 2005 and had very limited interactions with him over the next 14 years,\u201d the spokesperson said. <\/p>\n

White House spokesperson Kush Desai said: \u201cPresident Trump maintains complete confidence in Secretary Lutnick because he has been the most transformative Commerce Secretary in modern history and is a champion of the President\u2019s America First trade and tariffs policies.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Secretary<\/picture> <\/div>\n

The Epstein episode represents just the latest strike against Lutnick for many in Trump\u2019s orbit, who have long regarded the commerce secretary as an irritant at best \u2014 and at worst, a running political liability, people familiar with the internal discussions said. <\/p>\n

Within the White House, one of the people said, Lutnick is increasingly unpopular among aides who view him as an abrasive figure who frequently fans Trump\u2019s worst impulses on issues like tariffs \u2014 and who has a knack for finding ways to be by the president\u2019s side. <\/p>\n

Yet even among the sharpest Lutnick detractors in Trump\u2019s orbit, there\u2019s been little visible effort to leverage the Epstein controversy against the commerce secretary largely because few think it\u2019ll make a difference with the only person whose opinion matters: The president himself. <\/p>\n

Lutnick alienated a swath of Trump advisers and allies shortly after the 2024 election over his campaign to become Treasury secretary, which touched off a bruising behind-the-scenes battle against Scott Bessent that delayed Trump\u2019s decision on the critical Cabinet role for days. <\/p>\n

Others still hold Lutnick responsible for cheerleading the rollout of Trump\u2019s \u201cLiberation Day\u201d tariffs<\/a> \u2014\u202fa disastrous event that shook global markets and forced the administration to quickly walk back much of its disruptive trade strategy. The Commerce secretary fumbled the administration\u2019s messaging on multiple occasions during that period, further irritating officials who were racing to contain fallout from the blanket tariffs and to soothe foreign allies. <\/p>\n

Trump has remained a strong supporter of Lutnick. They are fellow New Yorkers who have known each other for decades, and one person familiar with the internal discussions said Lutnick enjoys a protected status as an \u201cFOT\u201d \u2014\u202for Friend of Trump. <\/p>\n

\"President<\/picture> <\/div>\n

Asked Thursday about Lutnick\u2019s interactions with Epstein, Trump said he wasn\u2019t aware while downplaying his own past relationship with Epstein. <\/p>\n

\u201cFrom what I hear, he was there with his wife and children, and I guess in some cases some people were,\u201d\u202fTrump\u202fsaid. \u201cI wasn\u2019t. I was never there.\u201d <\/p>\n

A meeting for drinks and trading phone calls <\/h2>\n

In October 2025, Lutnick told the New York Post in a podcast interview<\/a> that he and his wife decided to cut off contact with Epstein in 2005 after the financier showed off a massage table and made suggestive comments while giving the Lutnicks a tour not long after they had moved in next door. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn the six or eight steps it takes to get from his house to my house, my wife and I decided that I will never be in the room with that disgusting person ever again,\u201d Lutnick said. \u201cSo I was never in the room with him, socially, for business, or even philanthropy. If that guy was there, I wasn\u2019t going, because he\u2019s gross.\u201d <\/p>\n

But a CNN review of emails in the Epstein files shows that both Lutnick and his wife in fact communicated with Epstein for many years afterward, including on social, business and philanthropic matters. <\/p>\n

In 2011, the Epstein emails show arrangements being made to set up several calls between Epstein and Lutnick. <\/p>\n

\u201cHoward Lutnick is on an airplane headed overseas. His office would like to know if you would like to set up a call while he is away or if you prefer to speak with him on Monday April 4th when he is back,\u201d a redacted person emailed Epstein in March 2011<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The next month, Epstein was told in an email<\/a> from a redacted sender, \u201cHoward Lutnick returned your call.\u201d <\/p>\n

In an October 2011 email, Epstein\u2019s assistant wrote<\/a>: \u201cFYI-Howard Lutnik\u2019s assistant called asking if you would be available =o speak with Howard today\u2026\u201d <\/p>\n

A calendar with appointments<\/a> shows that Epstein had a 5 p.m. drinks meeting set up with Lutnick on May 1, 2011, 90 minutes before a scheduled dinner with Woody Allen and others. The next day, someone emailed Epstein<\/a>: \u201cThe phone was Howard Lutnicks, it has been collected.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Secretary<\/picture> <\/div>\n

Lunch on Epstein\u2019s island <\/h2>\n

In 2012, Lutnick and his wife sent a series of emails coordinating a meal with Epstein. Lutnick asked<\/a> for coordinates for his boat captain, proposing a dinner and noting he was accompanied by his wife, another couple and each family\u2019s four children. <\/p>\n

\u201cBelow from Jeffrey: come sat or sunday lunch? little st jamcs on the map, behind christmans cove,\u201d a redacted sender responded to Lutnick. <\/p>\n

Lutnick\u2019s wife followed up with Epstein\u2019s assistant<\/a> asking where to anchor, writing in a subsequent email that they were arriving on a \u201c188 foot yacht.\u201d <\/p>\n

At Tuesday\u2019s Senate hearing, Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland pressed Lutnick about the lunch and his prior claims of cutting off contact in 2005. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe issue is not\u202fthat you engaged in any wrongdoing in connection with Jeffrey Epstein, but that you totally misrepresented the extent of your relationship with him, to the Congress, to the American people and to the survivors of his despicable criminal and predatory acts,\u201d Van Hollen told\u202fLutnick. <\/p>\n

Lutnick acknowledged visiting the island while on vacation, but said that he saw nothing untoward and that he was there only briefly with his family. <\/p>\n

\u201cProbably the total, and you\u2019ve seen all of these documents of these millions and millions of documents, there may be 10 emails connecting me with him, probably about 10 emails connecting me with him, over a 14-year period. I did not have any relationship with him,\u201d Lutnick said. \u201cI barely had anything to do with that person, OK.\u201d <\/p>\n

Lutnick\u2019s dealings with Epstein continued in the years that followed. <\/p>\n

In 2013, Lutnick and Epstein both appear to have invested together through their business entities in an advertising analytics firm, according to a contract<\/a> included in the Epstein files. <\/p>\n

In 2015, Lutnick invited Epstein<\/a> to the Hillary Clinton fundraiser. It\u2019s unclear whether Epstein attended. And in 2017, Epstein donated<\/a> $50,000 to a dinner honoring Lutnick hosted by the UJA-Federation of New York. <\/p>\n

Billionaire investor John\u202fPaulson, who was UJA\u2019s\u202fchairman\u202fof\u202fits Wall Street & Financial Services\u202fdivision,\u202fwrote<\/a> in an email invitation to Epstein\u2019s assistant: \u201cAs Chairman of the Wall Street Division, I want to make sure that as a close friend of the\u202fLutnicks, you are aware of the event and have the opportunity to support them.\u201d <\/p>\n

Epstein\u202fresponded<\/a>, \u201c50k from me, hope pr is ok\u201d <\/p>\n

Lutnick\u2019s inclusion in the Epstein documents prompted calls for his resignation last week on Capitol Hill, including from Rep. Thomas Massie<\/a>, the Kentucky Republican who co-authored the legislation mandating the release of the files. <\/p>\n

\u201c[Lutnick] said he knew Jeffrey Epstein was a despicable, abhorrent human being and had nothing to do with him, and then he partied on his island with his kids, with this guy. How do you trust that guy?\u201d Massie said Wednesday. <\/p>\n

\"Rep.<\/picture> <\/div>\n

Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters that Lutnick\u202fwill have to answer questions about his relationship with Epstein, but argued it is \u201cup to the American people\u201d to say whether his answers are \u201csufficient.\u201d <\/p>\n

Rep. Nancy Mace, a South Carolina Republican who also pressed for release of the Epstein files, said she was \u201cconcerned with anyone who would hang out with a convicted pedophile\u201d when asked about Lutnick. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone who hangs out with a guy like that, I\u2019m sorry but I\u2019m not hanging out with you,\u201d Mace said. <\/p>\n

On Wall Street, there was mixed reaction over the Lutnick disclosures. <\/p>\n

An economist close to large institutional investors said that Lutnick has long been seen negatively by much of Wall Street thanks to his push for Trump to embrace tariffs, and that the markets might even react positively if he left the administration. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen a trade goes bad, you cut your losses and move on,\u201d the economist said. <\/p>\n

But one Wall Street executive told CNN that Lutnick has become a key part of the business side of the Trump administration, so investors might get concerned if he were pushed out. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s\u202fgrown\u202fon\u202finvestors,\u201d the executive said. \u201cLutnick\u202fbeing on the outs\u202fwould\u202fcause nerves.\u201d <\/p>\n

CNN\u2019s Austin Culpepper, Em Steck, MJ Lee, Manu Raju and Morgan Rimmer contributed to this report. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Howard Lutnick had a problem in 2018, he turned to his next-door neighbor for help: Jeffrey Epstein. Lutnick emailed Epstein\u2019s assistant in May 2018 about a proposed expansion to the Frick Collection, a museum one block south of Lutnick\u2019s and Epstein\u2019s adjacent townhouses on East 71st Street in Manhattan. \u201cAre you aware as to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10179,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10178\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}