White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday said that President Donald Trump’s administration stood behind commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, in light of reports of Lutnick’s association of convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein.
During an appearance before a Senate Appropriations Committee, Lutnick said that he had lunch with Epstein along with his wife and children in 2012.
“My wife was with me, as were my four children and nannies…I had another couple with – they were there as well with their children. And we had lunch on the island, that is true, for an hour,” Lutnick said on Tuesday.
See Also: Trump Sinks Deeper Into the Epstein Files as FBI Reports Emerge Alleging Rape of a Female Victim
Leavitt’s comments came after reporters pointed out discrepancies in Lutnick’s account. In an interview last year, Lutnick mentioned that he had cut ties with Epstein in 2005.
“Secretary Lutnick remains a very important member of President Trump’s team and the President fully supports the Secretary…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 as you continue to ask questions about the same subject, so let me point them out to you…,” Leavitt said while listing out a range of issues including a drop in murder rates, drop in national median rents and the “ninth straight month of zero illegal border crossing at the southern border.”
The questions about the discrepancies rose as Lutnick in a previous interview had insisted that he was “never in the room with him (Epstein) socially for business or even philanthropy” post his initial interactions.
See Also: Let’s Talk About Democracy – and Epstein Files
In response to a different question about the Epstein Files, Leavitt told the press that “The President has always remained consistent and that he kicked (Epstein) out of his club at Mar-a-Lago because frankly (Epstein) was a creep…and unlike many other ppl who were named in these files, President Trump cut off his relations with (Epstein) and was honest and transparent about that for years and years,” Leavitt said.
Referring to a 2005 interaction with Epstein, Lutnick in his interview last year had said that he promised to “never be in the room with that disgusting person ever again.”
This report is from 5Wh news service. NewsGram holds no responsibility for its content.
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