U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick admitted during a Senate Committee hearing on February 10 that he visited Jeffrey Epstein's island in 2012, contradicting his claims on a podcast last year that after an uncomfortable visit to Epstein's home in 2005, he decided to "never be in the room" with him again.

Since the U.S. Department of Justice recently released a batch of new Epstein documents, several members of Congress have accused Lutnick of lying about his closeness with Epstein and called for his immediate resignation.