Washington DC - President Donald Trump's Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick recently made a stunning admission about the Jeffrey Epstein case, which could come back to haunt him.
In a recent episode of the Pod Force One podcast, Lutnick recalled his experience living next door to the notorious sex offender and how he cut ties with Epstein after the financier gave him and his wife a tour of the "massage room" located in his Manhattan townhouse.
"I say to him, 'Massage table in the middle of your house? How often do you have a massage?'" Lutnick recounted.
"And he says, 'Every day.' And then he gets, like, weirdly close to me, and he says, 'And the right kind of massage.'"
Lutnick claimed that the moment led to him and his wife vowing to "never be in the room with that disgusting person ever again."
He went on to claim that many of Epstein's wealthy and powerful associates "participated" in what was going on, and suggested that "what happened in that massage room, I assume, was on video."
Lutnick also shared that he believes Epstein "traded those videos in exchange for him getting that 18-month sentence" when he was first convicted on trafficking charges in Florida back in 2008.
"This guy was the greatest blackmailer ever, blackmailed people. That's how he had money," Lutnick added.
House Democrat calls on Howard Lutnick to testify on Epstein
Lutnick's comments come as Trump and his administration continue to face criticism for refusing to release the Epstein files as they repeatedly promised.
His remarks also appear to contradict a memo released by the DOJ and the FBI, which claimed Epstein never had a "client list" of powerful associates who may have been involved in his wrongdoing.
Despite the memo, a number of politicians and many Epstein survivors have been pushing efforts to get the files released to the public.
In an interview with CNN on Wednesday, Democratic Representative Robert Garcia of California described Lutnick's claims as "explosive," and said the House Oversight Committee, which has launched its own probe into the handling of the Epstein files, is "very interested" in learning about "what exactly he knows."
"Those were some incredible comments, and I think that it just reinforces why it's so important that we get the full files released by the DOJ and the Trump administration," Garcia added.