Lutnick Donated $5 Million to House Republicans Before Epstein Testimony
Howard Lutnick, President Trump’s secretary of commerce, made a $5 million donation final month to a committee supporting House Republicans, an unusually massive contribution for a sitting cupboard secretary.
The donation was made on April 1, 4 weeks after the House Oversight Committee arranged to interview Mr. Lutnick about his ties to the intercourse offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein. The closed-door interview took place on May 6.
Mr. Lutnick gave the cash to the Congressional Leadership Fund, the primary tremendous PAC behind House Republicans and Speaker Mike Johnson, in accordance to a brand new submitting made public on Thursday. Mr. Lutnick has not too long ago been a serious Republican donor, however this was his first contribution since being named commerce secretary. It ties his largest-ever federal donation, $5 million he gave to Mr. Trump’s tremendous PAC in 2024.
“Mr. Lutnick made a political donation in his personal capacity, just as many Cabinet Secretaries from both parties have done in the past,” stated Kristen Eichamer, a spokesperson for the Department of Commerce.
Federal workers are permitted to make donations, however it’s uncommon to see such a high-ranking official donate such a major quantity. Mr. Lutnick is the primary Trump cupboard official to make a seven-figure disclosed federal donation after being confirmed to a put up, in accordance to a evaluation of federal election filings.
The closest analogue in Mr. Trump’s administration was the position performed by Elon Musk throughout his stint as a part-time authorities worker, throughout which he continued to donate thousands and thousands to conservative causes.
The House Oversight Committee didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
The donation got here at a delicate time for Mr. Lutnick. Lawmakers have been scrutinizing their ties to Mr. Epstein since January, when the federal government launched thousands and thousands of pages of data associated to Mr. Epstein. Mr. Lutnick lived subsequent door to Mr. Epstein on the Upper East Side of Manhattan for greater than a decade, and the commerce secretary’s identify appeared in additional than 250 paperwork within the Epstein information, a evaluation by The New York Times discovered.
Mr. Lutnick claimed till not too long ago to haven’t been in the identical room with Mr. Epstein after an encounter in 2005. But the files showed that Mr. Lutnick traveled to Mr. Epstein’s non-public island in 2012, and that they’d different interactions.
Democrats grilled Mr. Lutnick about these connections in a beforehand scheduled congressional listening to in February. Then, on March 3, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee introduced that Mr. Lutnick had agreed to seem earlier than the committee to testify in regards to the extent of his relationship with Mr. Epstein. The look helped to stave off a attainable subpoena by legislators, who have been contemplating ordering Mr. Lutnick to testify.
According to a subsequently printed transcript, Mr. Lutnick informed lawmakers that he had met Mr. Epstein thrice: as soon as for espresso in Mr. Epstein’s house in New York after they turned neighbors, as soon as to talk about building on Mr. Epstein’s house in New York, and as soon as when Mr. Lutnick and his household visited Mr. Epstein’s island in 2012. Mr. Lutnick condemned Mr. Epstein’s conduct and described the interactions as “meaningless and inconsequential.”
The disclosure on Thursday listed Mr. Lutnick’s “employer” as Cantor Fitzgerald and his “occupation” as chairman. Mr. Lutnick accomplished a divestment from Cantor in September, leaving his sons in command of the agency. It was unclear why the submitting listed him as chairman, though errors on Federal Election Commission filings usually are not unusual. The tremendous PAC, which Mr. Lutnick backed with $2.7 million between 2022 and 2024 as properly, declined to touch upon the donation or entry.
The Congressional Leadership Fund is charged with serving to to re-elect House Republican incumbents, like these on the House Oversight Committee, and successful seats in battleground districts. Another main donor to the hassle final month was Warren Stephens, Mr. Trump’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, who gave $250,000 to the tremendous PAC.
Michael Gold contributed reporting.
