US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has alleged that high-profile associates of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were actively involved in Epstein’s illicit activities and may have been blackmailed with compromising videos. Speaking on the New York Post’s Miranda Divine Pod Force One podcast on Wednesday whether high-profile associates of Epstein knew of his behavior and just ignored it, Lutnick stated, “No, they participated. They participated That’s what his MO was — ‘Get a massage, get a massage.'” Lutnick further claimed, “And what happened in that massage room, I assume, was on video. This guy was the greatest blackmailer ever.” He suggested that Epstein may have exchanged blackmail material for a reduced prison sentence in the “sweetheart deal” Epstein received during his 2008 state charges. “I assume, way back when, they traded those videos in exchange for him getting that 18-month sentence, which allowed him to have visits and be out of jail. I mean, he’s a serial sex offender. How could he get 18 months and be able to go to his office during the day and have visitors and stuff? There must have been a trade,” Lutnick added. These allegations contrast with statements made by FBI Director Kash Patel, who, during testimony before Congress last month, responded to Senator John Kennedy’s inquiry about whether Epstein trafficked young women to others besides himself by saying, “Himself. There is no credible information. None. If there were, I would bring the case yesterday that he trafficked to other individuals.” Meanwhile, the Trump administration has faced criticism for its decision not to release materials pertaining to the Epstein investigation. In July, following backlash from MAGA supporters, the administration announced that no additional files would be made public. President Donald Trump, who was friends with Epstein in the 1990s before their falling out, dismissed calls to release the files as a “hoax” orchestrated by his political adversaries. “It’s all been a big hoax,” Trump told reporters in July. “It’s perpetrated by the Democrats and some stupid Republicans, and foolish Republicans fall into the net. And so they try and do the Democrats’ work.” In the same interview, Lutnick described Epstein as “gross.” “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.'”
