At Tuesday's White House press briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick still has the full support of President Donald Trump, following news that Lutnick met with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Recently released emails from Epstein suggest the two last met in 2012. Lutnick had previously claimed he had not seen Epstein since 2005, three years before Epstein’s 2008 conviction on child prostitution charges.
At a hearing of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies, Lutnick confirmed he had been on a boat with Epstein in 2012. He said he was not sure “why we did it,” but insisted there was nothing untoward about the meeting. Lutnick has not been accused of any crimes.
The revelations have led to calls for Lutnick's resignation or firing.
On Tuesday, Leavitt said Lutnick "remains a very important member of President Trump’s team, and the president fully supports the secretary."
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Answering separate questions, Leavitt did not say whether President Trump would grant Ghislaine Maxwell's request for clemency.
“This is not something I’ve discussed with the president recently, because, frankly, it’s not a priority,” Leavitt said. “He’s focused on many of the issues that the American people are dealing with and providing solutions to those issues.”
Maxwell on Tuesday invoked her Fifth Amendment right and refused to testify during a deposition before the House Oversight Committee.
Maxwell, one of Epstein's closest associates, is serving a 20-year federal prison sentence following her 2021 conviction on sex trafficking-related charges.
Leavitt abruptly ended the briefing after reporters pressed her with three separate questions about the newly released Epstein files. Before walking away, Leavitt said there were “a lot of wins” the media wasn’t covering.
"I will just point out that there are a lot of wins in the news this week that people in this room have not asked about, because you continue to ask questions about the same subject," she said.