to leave a comment.
Rutnick had multiple interactions with Epstein in the past... His future watched amid opposition's calls for resignation
US Commerce Secretary Howard Rutnick appeared at a closed-door hearing of the House Oversight Committee on the 6th (local time) over the 'Epstein allegations'.
A Commerce Department spokesperson told the media that day, "Secretary (Rutnick) will voluntarily testify before the Oversight Committee and answer any questions for the official record."
He said, "The Secretary hopes to put an end to the inaccurate and baseless claims created by the media to distract from his historical work ongoing at the Commerce Department."
Secretary Rutnick is embroiled in controversy as his name appears in over 250 documents related to the late Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted child sex offender, released by the Department of Justice.
Secretary Rutnick previously testified at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on February 10th that he met Epstein three times from when Epstein began living as a neighbor in Manhattan, New York, in 2005 until Epstein died in prison in 2019.
This contradicted his statement in a podcast interview last year, where he said he had not met Epstein again after their 2005 encounter, sparking controversy.
It was confirmed that Secretary Rutnick briefly met Epstein in 2011 and visited Epstein's private island in the Caribbean for a vacation with family and others in 2012.
At the Senate hearing, Secretary Rutnick claimed he did not remember why he went to Epstein's island and stated he was unrelated to Epstein's crimes.
Separately, Secretary Rutnick is facing pressure from the opposition to resign over allegations that while he advocated for the government's tariff policies, a company led by his son sought to profit by buying and selling tariff refund rights.
Secretary Rutnick has played a key role in President Donald Trump's imposition of tariffs and in negotiations between the US and major trading partners like South Korea and Japan regarding tariff reductions and investment in the US.
In Washington political circles, there is speculation that Secretary Rutnick could be next to be replaced, following the recent dismissal of three secretaries: Kristi Noem (Homeland Security), Pam Bondi (Justice), and Lori Chavez-DeRemer (Labor).
In the case of former Secretary Bondi, she was summoned to a House Oversight Committee hearing on the 14th of last month regarding the release of the 'Epstein files', but was dismissed about ten days before, postponing her hearing to the end of this month.
Newsletter
Get key news delivered to your email every morning
to leave a comment.