Donald Trump's commerce secretary Howard Lutnick is facing fresh pressure in Washington after leaked Jeffrey Epstein files in London appeared to show him discussing a joint investment with Epstein in 2018 and planning to exploit ex-Prince Andrew's royal connections in a $1 million (£740,000) deal five years earlier.
Lutnick has spent months trying to draw a hard line under his relationship with Epstein, telling the House Oversight Committee in May that, to the best of his recollection, he only realised in 2026 that Epstein had money in a digital advertising firm called AdFin. He has also insisted he cut off contact with Epstein in 2005, two years before the financier first pleaded guilty to sex offences.
