Latest / The Vault: The Epstein Files / Howard Lutnick And The Transcript From His Epstein Related Congressional Hearing (Part 8) (5/17/26)

Transcript

Howard Lutnick And The Transcript From His Epstein Related Congressional Hearing (Part 8) (5/17/26) · The Vault: The Epstein Files

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
• 0:03
  Epstein Chronicles. In this episode, we're going to get right
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  back to Howard Lutnick and his deposition that he gave
• 0:11
  to Congress miss and sorry, Secretary Lutnik, it was discussed
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  at the top of the hour that your testimony today
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  is not being videotaped? Did you refuse videotaping of your testimony?
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  And to that, Lutnick's lawyer jumps in, the Secretary made
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  an agreement to be here voluntarily. It's worked out that
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  we would do a transcribed interview. And sorry, So it
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  was the majority's decision to do a transcribe video or
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  was that a request that you all made Troulger, Any
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  conversations that I've had to the representation of my client
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  will be privileged. We're here, We're here to voluntarily answer
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  your questions. We've been answering your questions redacted. I'm sorry,
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  if I could, sorry, Congresswoman, miss Ann, sorry, would you refuse?
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  Would you be open to having this on video? Lutnik,
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  I'd prefer to just answer questions about my three meaningless
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  and inconsequential meetings. Miss Ann sorry, Okay, all right, So
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  I know that you've been using the phrase quite a bit,
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  so I just want to dive into that a little bit.
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  You talked a lot about your wife today and how
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  she's really the person who warned you about Jeffrey Epstein,
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  and the two made an agreement for you not to,
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  you know, be involved with them in any way. Obviously,
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  in two thousand and eight, we know that Epstein was
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  convicted as a child sex trafficker and an abuser. Then
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  in twenty twelve, of course you did go to the
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  island with your wife, who was the original person who
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  you know, had doubts with together, and you mentioned her
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  many times. How'd your wife feel about you going to
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  the island in twenty twelve, if she had such deep
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  feelings and such deep concerns, Lutni's lawyer jumps in, excuse me, congresswoman,
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  you said something that I think really does need to
• 2:00
  be corrected. For the record, you said in two thousand
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  and eight, he'd been convicted as a trafficker. That's not accurate,
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  and sorry, as a child abuser. Turwilger, that's not accurate,
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  and sorry, what was he Turwilger, He was ultimately in
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  the state process in Florida was charged with solicitation of
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  a miner as a former prosecutor. That is not the
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  same thing as child trafficking and sorry, okay, so solicitation
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  of a minor by Jeffrey Epstein in two thousand and eight.
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  Four years later, mister Lutnik and the entire family go
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  to the island. Your wife had deep concerns many years
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  before in two thousand and five because of a massage table.
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  How did your wife feel in twenty twelve, Lutnick, I
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  don't want to accept any premise of the conversation, but
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  I'll try to answer it for you. But I don't
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  accept the premise, so and sorry, the premise being, Lutnick,
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  the premise being your expressing views of my wife that
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  you're expressing. So we were uncomfortable with what he said.
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  He was gross, and so we discussed that I would
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  avoid him and not have any personal or professional relationship
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  with him, which I did not with respect to visiting
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  having lunch with my family and another family and the
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  whole crowd going to his island for lunch. I don't
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  remember why we went, but to try to answer your
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  question in more detail, I don't remember him registering as
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  a sex offender. And if my next door neighbor was
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  registered as a sex offender and I knew it, I
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  would remember that. And sorry, so you would remember it, presumably,
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  lut Nick. Wait, just let me finish, if you don't mind,
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  let me finish. And I think if my wife knew
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  that her next door neighbor was a registered sex offender,
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  then she would remember that, and that both of those
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  things would have meant that we wouldn't have gone. So
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  while I don't remember why we went, right when I
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  think back on it as I sit here today, we
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  would have known because if we would have known, I
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  wouldn't have gone. So that's my point. And sorry, if
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  I could just Lutnick cuts her off. I'm just trying
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  to describe to you, so that could be he gets
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  cut off now by en. Sorry, but it was a
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  prominent case, and so you knew at the bare minimum
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  that he had solicited at a minor Lutnick, I don't
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  know that, and as I said, and sorry, you don't
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  recall it being all over the news media, Lutnick, I don't.
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  And sorry. I mean I was a child when it happened,
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  and I remember all of it. Lutnick I don't find
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  that a little bit he gets cut off by And sorry,
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  it's just interesting that you didn't know that your neighbor,
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  Jeffrey Epstein, one of the most famous individuals in the
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  country even at the time, was all over the news
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  for soliciting a minor in two thousand and eight. Lutnick,
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  he became famous in twenty nineteen. I didn't know him
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  to be famous before this. And sorry, So when did
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  you find out? Mayron? Please let the secretary finish? And sorry,
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  I actually can ask questions whenever i'd like, Thank you.
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  When did you find out that he was a registered
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  sex offender? Lutnick? Well, I certainly, along with everybody else
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  in the country, I learned a enormous amounts about him
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  in twenty nineteen. And sorry, when did you first find
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  out Lutnik? First find out what? And sorry that he
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  was a registered sex offender or that he had solicited
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  a minor? Ludnik, as I said, I don't remember. But
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  what I tried to tell you before was that when
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  thinking back, it would have been something that I would
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  have right if I knew, I would have If I knew,
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  I would have been concerned about him being living next door,
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  and I wouldn't have gone to the island. So while
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  I sit here and I say, you know, twenty years
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  ago or however long ago it was, but I can't
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  tell you what I remember. I'm just trying to be
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  helpful because I've done nothing, and we all know I
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  have done absolutely nothing wrong and appropriate. You know, I
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  only interacted with this person three times in my whole life,
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  as you know, meaningless and inconsequential, never with other people.
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  So I'm just saying, just trying to be helpful to
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  give you the context to the extent I can, mister Walkinshaw,
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  mister secretary. Earlier, mister Khanna asked you about your speculation
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  that Epstein was blackmailing people. You responded that you subsequently
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  changed your mind about that after hearing from officials in
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  the administration. Who did you speak to in the administration
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  about Jeffrey Epstein blackmailing or not blackmailing people, Lutnick, It
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  was just public comments from administration officials, Walkinshaw. I haven't
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  seen those comments from administration officials that he didn't blackmail people, Lutnick.
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  That's my best recollection. I learned it from public. He
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  gets cut off by Walkinshaw, Okay, you refuse to answer
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  a question about any conversation you might have had with
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  President Trump about today's testimony. I just want to be clear,
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  you will not answer questions about any conversation you have
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  with President Trump about today's testimony. Lutnick, Right, But I
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  don't want you to think anything one way or the other.
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  I'm not even suggesting I have them. I'm just saying
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  I won't go there. Question how about any time before
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  Trump was elected president or during the four years that
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  Joe Biden was president, any conversation with Trump when he
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  wasn't president about Jeffrey Epstein Lutnick, No, Walkinshaw, Okay. I'm
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  struggling sitting here listening to you try to describe and
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  define iye and I as a man. I'm trying to
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  figure out what exactly it is you're trying to say.
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  I think the American people saw it on video, they
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  would be struggling as well. But you said on the podcast,
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  my wife and I decided that I'll never be in
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  the room with that disgusting person again. You said married
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  people will understand that. So your position is that you
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  were so turned off by him, he was so gross
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  something where it's actually going on in his house, that
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  you was a man, Howie Lutnick, did not want to
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  be in the room with them alone, but you were
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  okay with your wife and family being in a room
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  with him. I'm struggling to understand that I'm a man
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  too with a wife and a child. If I felt
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  someone was so gross, more than me not wanting to
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  be in a room with him, I won't want my
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  wife and my child to be in a room with them.
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  But you're very definitive that it's you, you, you Howard Lutnik,
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  that couldn't be in a room with him. Lutnik, I
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  had an informal conversation with my wife and that's what
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  we discussed. And I would think that most people who
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  are married won't understand they would have a conversation with
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  their wife that someone says something inappropriate gross that when
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  you leave with your wife, she says, you should avoid
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  that guy. He's gross, right, and I did so. I
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  don't think that like that's kind of inconsequential, which means
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  just avoid him, which I did, so I understand. Actually,
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  I would think people who are married would understand the
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  conversation with their wife when they met someone who was
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  inappropriate to say you should avoid him, and I did
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  Walkinshaw respectfully, mister secretary. I think most people who are
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  married would say we should never be in a room
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  with him again. But have you had any conversation with
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  anyone in the White House setting aside the President. You're
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  refusing to discuss conversations with the President, any conversations with
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  anyone who works in the White House about today's inner
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  Lutnick No, walk in Shaw, Okay, thank you. We can
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  go off the record. They have a recess and they
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  come back. Emmer will go back on the record. Comer
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  jumps in, Yeah, I just want to say something. I've
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  been listening to the press conference the Democrats run out
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  to say, and they have said several things that aren't
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  true that you said. And Walkinshaw especially, he's in a
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  tough race against a transgender candidate, and I think he
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  I don't know what he's doing. I don't understand what
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  it takes to win a Democrat primary. But it's very
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  fortunate or unfortunate, because I think the transcript will reflect
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  that they just went out and said it's completely false,
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  and that's very disappointing because this is an important investigation.
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  We're trying to learn everything we can to see if
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  there's any way to hold people who committed crimes accountable
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  for terrible things. And I'm doing everything in my ability
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  to have a serious, credible investigation. Mister Secretary, you've come
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  here voluntarily. We appreciate it, and I just felt like
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  I needed to say that on the record, so I'll
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  yield back Emmer. Thank you. Question, mister secretary, is there
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  something that you want to clarify on the record? Answer? Yeah,
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  I just want to make sure everybody understands that I
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  have a Department of Commerce lawyer with me at the end,
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  and so they said, did I use my commerce resources?
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  I had scheduling which talk to people at commerce, and
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  I did send my opening statement to my comm's director
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  so he can know what I was going to say.
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  But that's it. Question. Thank you. I understand that you've
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  answered a lot of similar questions over the last two hours,
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  so the Majority will continue to ask questions that you
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  have not answered. Emmer question. At this time, I would
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  like to introduce what will be marked as Majority Exhibit nine.
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  And while he's passing it out to the next however,
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  many minutes we're going to walk through specific emails that
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  were released as part of the Epstein Transparency Act that
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  referenced the Secretary, of course in his personal capacity. Lutnix
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  lawyer jumps back in. Mister, Emmer, mag just ask a
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  quick question. Emmer, yes, sir, question, Sorry to take your time.
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  We're still on the record. Emmer, Yeah, Lawyer. I noticed that,
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  especially after what the chairman just said. Congressman Walkshaw said
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  he had not heard about certain statements that Secretary Lutnik
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  talked about administration officials. I just wanted to be clear
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  for the record that ranking Member Garcia of this committee
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  sent a letter where those things were mentioned, So I
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  guess he's not aware of his own ranking members letter. Comer.
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  Honesty is not a specialty. Emmer, thank you. All right.
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  We're going to wrap up right here, and in the
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  next episode, we're gonna pick up where we left off.
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  All the information that goes with this episode can be
• 11:45
  found in the description box.