Republican Rep. Thomas Massie said Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick should resign after acknowledging he visited Jeffrey Epstein’s private island in 2012, arguing the issue was not the trip itself but what he described as recent false statements about it, according to an interview on CNN.
Massie spoke after Lutnick testified before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee and confirmed he had lunch on Epstein’s island while traveling with his family, following earlier public statements that he had cut off contact with Epstein years earlier.
“The problem isn’t that he went to Epstein Island. That’s not a crime,” Massie told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins. “What the problem is, how do you have confidence in the Secretary of Commerce who lied about it just recently?”
Massie added that Lutnick only gave what he described as a truthful account once he was under oath. “He lied about it recently, and then he was forced, only when he was sworn in, to give a truthful answer,” he said.
Collins: You called on Lutnick to resign before he acknowledged that he did go to Epstein's island with his family. Did that change your mind?
— Acyn (@Acyn) February 11, 2026
Massie: It solidified my decision. The problem is how do you have confidence in secretary of commerce who lied? I don't have confidence… pic.twitter.com/1qzs0ZhLfZ
Lutnick testified Tuesday after being questioned by Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) about apparent inconsistencies between his prior remarks and newly released Justice Department records concerning his contacts with Epstein.
During the hearing, Lutnick said he had lunch with Epstein while traveling by boat on a family vacation in 2012 and denied any wrongdoing. He said his wife, children and nannies were present and that the visit lasted about an hour.
“I did not have any relationship with him. I barely had anything to do with that person,” Lutnick told lawmakers, according to Reuters.
Lutnick has previously said he severed ties with Epstein after a 2005 encounter in which Epstein made a sexually suggestive comment. Emails released by the Justice Department last month showed Lutnick visited Epstein’s island years later and exchanged messages with him after that incident, Reuters reported.
At the hearing, Van Hollen pressed Lutnick on why he had described his first encounter with Epstein as his last if he later visited the island. Lutnick said he did not recall why the lunch took place but said his family was present throughout.
VAN HOLLEN: Did you in fact make the visit to Epstein's private island?
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 10, 2026
LUTNICK: I did have lunch with him as I was on a boat going across on a family vacation. My wife was with me as were my 4 children and nannies. I had another couple with their children. And we had lunch on… pic.twitter.com/o6GGyNsr5M
Calls for Lutnick to step down have come from members of both parties. Massie said Lutnick should resign to spare President Donald Trump further political fallout, on his CNN appearance.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that Trump continued to support Lutnick and described him as “a very important member of the president’s team,” Reuters reported.
Lutnick also testified at the hearing about broadband deployment funding overseen by the Commerce Department. He said he had “nothing to hide” regarding his past interactions with Epstein.
