Lutnick directs $5M to House GOP super PAC ahead of Epstein deposition testimony

WASHINGTON, DC: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has ignited a massive political firestorm following federal disclosures revealing he transferred a staggering $5 million to a political action committee backing House Republicans.

Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings published Thursday, May 21, reveal that a multi-million dollar transaction was executed on April 1.

This transaction occurred just before Lutnick’s confidential testimony before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, in which he addressed his concealed personal history with convicted offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The massive donation flowed directly into the Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF), the primary fundraising super PAC utilized by House Republicans and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La) to maintain their legislative majority.

The timing of the transaction has triggered intense scrutiny from transparency advocates, marking Lutnick’s very first political contribution since assuming his cabinet post. 

Aside from President Trump himself, Lutnick stands as the highest-ranking administration official exposed within unsealed Justice Department records released under the historic Epstein Files Transparency Act.

Democrats demand resignation after deposition

The Commerce Department aggressively defended the transaction, with spokesperson Kristen Eichamer stating to The New York Times that Lutnick made the massive donation strictly in his personal capacity, mirroring past actions of cabinet secretaries from both political parties.

However, opposition lawmakers rejected the explanation, unleashing furious demands for the secretary's immediate resignation following his May 6 appearance before congressional investigators.

Representative Ro Khanna (D-Calif), a bipartisan co-author of the transparency legislation, characterized Lutnick's closed-door explanations as an elaborate display of contortions and lies.

Khanna slammed the cabinet official's defensive performance, asserting that any public review of the intense exchanges would prove that the secretary made a complete farce of the English language to evade accountability.

Oversight chairman shields cabinet official

Despite fierce pushback from Democrats who accused the official of hiding a joint 2014 corporate advertising investment with Epstein, House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky) moved quickly to shield the embattled secretary.

Comer praised Lutnick for being forthcoming with information, despite previously acknowledging to reporters that the cabinet official had not been 100 percent truthful about his real timeline with the deceased financier.

The investigation has severely undermined Lutnick's previous public assertions that he had severed all contact with Epstein in 2005.

Under intense questioning, the secretary was forced to admit to traveling with his wife and children to Epstein’s private Caribbean island for a lunch meeting in 2012, long after Epstein's 2008 solicitation conviction.

Both Lutnick and Trump continue to deny any personal knowledge of Epstein’s illicit global activities.