A photo appearing to show Donald Trumpâs commerce secretary Howard Lutnick with Jeffrey Epstein has been found in a downloaded cache of the Epstein Filesâand apparently deleted from the official version.
The picture seems to show the pedophile walking ahead of the financier on Little St. James island, where it was already known Lutnick had visited for a picnic with his wife and âhis children and his nannies.â
The picture was located by âjmail,â a site run by two tech workers who have created a searchable version of Epsteinâs Gmail inbox by downloading all of the latest releases.
The group posted a link on its âjmailarchive,â to the image, which shows a DOJ file name. The file name, EFTA01230639, does not match any results in the DOJâs Epstein website, suggesting it has been deleted.
When reached for comment, a DOJ official did not deny that Lutnick was in the photo.
âThis image was part of a batch of files that were flagged for nudity,â the official said. âThe batch of thousands of images was pulled for review and is being uploaded with necessary redactions on a rolling basis. No files are being deleted.â
The Commerce Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Lutnick, 64, has already been caught lying about his contacts with Epstein. The commerce secretary claimed in a MAGA-friendly podcast interview that he met Epstein only once, in 2005, when he and his wife moved in next door to him. He claimed he cut off all contact after that year.
But files released by the Justice Department showed that Lutnick and Epstein traded emails years after Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor in 2008.
Some of those messages were for arranging calls and lunchesâincluding on the pedophileâs island playground, where victims have said they were sexually abused.
Lutnick has not been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.
Lutnick is already under pressure from Trump, who has confronted him not over the files, but because he is âp---ing offâ staff in other departments, Politico reported.
Current and former Trump administration officials told the outlet that Lutnickâs habit of making his staff obtain his permission before contacting other agencies, for instance, has become a headache.
âNo oneâs allowed to talk to the interagency without Howard giving explicit approval,â one administration official said. âEven when his staff show up to meetings at the White House, theyâre under a gag order, and they literally just say, âHi, I donât have a position from the Secretary on this, so Commerce has no position at this time.ââ
Colleagues also said Lutnick tends to involve himself in deals where he has minimal expertise just to claim a win for himself, and that he âshouts overâ others who may disagree with him in meetings.
