Latest / The Vault: The Epstein Files / The Adfin Deal: Howard Lutnick, Jeffrey Epstein and the Paper Trail (7/15/26)

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The Adfin Deal: Howard Lutnick, Jeffrey Epstein and the Paper Trail (7/15/26) · The Vault: The Epstein Files

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What's up everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Epstein Chronicles. Ever since the Epstein files have dropped, we've
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: talked about a lot of people that were close or
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: friendly with Jeffrey Epstein. And one of the people who
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: has been revealed to be closer to Epstein than they
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: ever told us was none other than Howard Lutnik And
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: not only was Howard Lutnik close to Jeffrey Epstein, he
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: was close to Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew and according
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: to a whistleblower, Kenner, Fitzgerald had a plan in twenty
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: thirteen to buy themselves with Prince. Today we have an
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: article from BBC and the headline how US Commerce Secretary's
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: Epstein links were uncovered by British whistleblower. This article was
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: authored by Andy Verity, rob Byrne and Ben Milne. A
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: British man has told BBC how he unearthed evidence indicating
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: that his former employer, Howard Lutnick, now US Commerce Secretary,
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: failed to disclose it was a business relationship with the
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. Wait a minute, you need to
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: tell me that Howard Lutnick, of all people wasn't honest.
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: I'm shocked, shocked, I say, said nobody. Ever, Howard Lutnik
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: is one of the most dishonest people, maybe in the
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: history of DC. And that's telling you a lot. How
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: do I know while I worked for counter Fitzgerald Folks,
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: not for the financial arm of it, but for their
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: gaming arm. And it was a shit show, an absolute
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: shit show. One of the worst corporations I've ever worked for.
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: You ever see Wolfe of Wall Street? That's what I
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: was like. Simon Andrees, previously a managing director at a
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: Wall Street firm, discovered an email chain from twenty eighteen
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: in which Lutnik and Epstein had discussed the prospects of
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: a startup business they were both involved in. Andrees shared
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: his findings from the millions of released Epstein files with
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: US politicians on the influential House Oversight Committee ahead of
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: an appearance thereby Lutnik in May. And look, that's great.
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: Everybody who has information should be turning it over. The
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: problem is, I don't trust the arbiters. I don't trust Congress.
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: They've proven time and time again they're not to be trusted.
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: Now I understand that they're pretty much the only lifeline
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: at this point to get justice. But that doesn't mean
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: I'm confident, that doesn't mean I think that we could
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: just pack it in and not keep their feet to
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: the fire. Lutnik told the committee that, to the best
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: of his knowledge, he had only learned this year that
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: Epstein had been an investor in the firm. Speaking on
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: his behalf, the US Commerce Department told us there was
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: no evidence of wrongdoing. Oh, of course, not squeaky clean
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: Howard Lutnick, good old Howard nut Lick, the squeakiest clean
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: man in the history of squeakiest clean men. Andres also
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: discovered in the files that one of lutnik firms had
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: made plan ends in twenty thirteen to go into business
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: with another figure linked to Abstein, the then Prince Andrew,
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: by commercially exploiting the contacts the former UK Trade Envoy
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: had made. What it involved was alone to Andrew mount
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: Batten Winsor for one pounds to basically buy a prince.
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: He tells File four on four investigates, Now, does that
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: sound like something that's out of the realm of possibility?
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: Of course not. That's what these people do. And I
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: don't think people really understand the degeneracy that you find
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: in these boardrooms. These people have so much money that
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: the things that get me and you off would never
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: get them off. And I'm not talking about sexually, I'm
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: talking about in general. You know, you go to the casino,
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: you want to blow a couple hundred cool, You're satiated,
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: You're done, that's it. Party over. Do you think they
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: get the same feeling? They have billions of dollars, So
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: how did they get that cortisol blast? We all know,
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: just ask Jeffrey Epstein. I was completely shocked, says Andrewes,
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: describing the moment when he discovered his own name in
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: the Epstein Files, a massive collection of documents, photos, video,
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: and emails relating to the notorious sex offender released by
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: the US government in the past year. The specific files
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: in which Andreas appeared related to interviews he had given
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: to the FBI well in dispute with his former employer,
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: BGC Partners, a financial brokerage firm part of Lutnix Canter
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: Fitzgerald Group. And I worked for a company called Cannter Gaming,
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: and it was the gambling arm of Canter Fitzgerald, and
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: I was managing sportsbooks for them here in Las Vegas
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: in twenty sixteen. Andrees had raised concerns internally about accounting
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: irregularities at the firm. He was sacked in twenty seventeen,
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: but some of the allegations later led to BGC being
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: ordered to pay three million dollars by the US Derivatives
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: Regulator for Numero supervision, reporting and record keeping violations. None
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: of that shocks me, especially considering the scam that we're
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: running through the sports book. I mean, the Jersey Boy
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: scandal was out of control. You have people laying money
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: off at the sports book, laundering it, moving lines, not
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: getting it checked, all kinds of shit at a casino
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: in Las Vegas. And you really think that the regulators
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: aren't gonna know you eventually, Like the gaming board in
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: Las Vegas might as well be the Stasi. Right. They
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: don't fuck around, not one bit. And it was only
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: a matter of time before somebody got HM dub and ratted.
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: And that's exactly what happened. And for me, that was
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: when the writing was on the wall. I mean, you
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: can't be running an illegal book through your legal book. Okay,
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: not exactly the kind of thing the regulators are okay
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: with BGC told us that Andres's allegations lack credibility and
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: were categorically false. It said the claims had been investigated
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: by authorities in several jurisdictions, which, according to BGC, had
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: not substantiated the allegations. Well, Kantor told you that it's true.
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: Might as well listen to them, said nobody. Ever. Andrew
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: spoke to the FBI about BGC and about the firm's
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: ultimate boss, Lutnick, back in twenty twenty one, after Epstein
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: had killed himself in jail while awaiting trial on sex
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: trafficking charges. The Epstein files show Andrees alleged that Lutnik
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: had undeclared business ties with Epstein. The FBI did not
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: investigate these accusations. They didn't investigate anything. So how can
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: we say that anyone's exonerated, including the Donald Trump situation
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: in South Carolina. Let's get a real investigation by a
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: special council, and let's put it all to bed. We
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: can all move on to other things then. But they
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: don't want to do it. Ask yourself, why why are
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: they refusing a special council? Why are they refusing the
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: one mechanism we have to get a real look at this,
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: Andrees tells the BBC he was disappointed that few had
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: seem interested in what he had discovered. I'm exposing how
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: were Lutnick's relationship financial links with Jeffrey Epstein, and there's
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: no interest. Nobody cared back then. All these politicians who
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: say they care now, they didn't care back then. And
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: I'm here to tell you that I went through it
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: in real time, and I watched all these people ignore
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: the survivors and ignore what was happening, and now they
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: show up like some champions riding horses wearing white armor.
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: In twenty twenty five, Lutnik was appointed US Commerce Secretary,
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: at which point he sold his shares in Kenner Fitzgerald
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: and passed control of the firm to his sons. On
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: a podcast later that year, he claimed he had only
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: ever met Epstein once, twenty years earlier, when they had
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: been neighbors in Manhattan, and that he found out his
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: behavior was gross. Oh yeah, we believe that story. I
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: went over and Jeffrey Epstein was talking about massages, and
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: I leaned over to my wife and said, we have
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: to get out of here. I'm paraphrasing, but that's the
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: gist of it. Who the fuck believed that? However, with
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: the Epstein files release, inconsistencies began to appear in this
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: version of events. A photo showed Lutnik with Epstein on
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: the Sex Offenders Caribbean Island Little Saint James in December
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: of twenty twelve. But don't worry, he had his wife
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: with him, his kids, his nannies, and some other degenerate dudes.
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: No big dildough. Nothing to see here. Who brings their
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: kids to Jeffrey Epstein's island when he's already a convicted
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: sex offender? Is anybody gonna ask that question? Four years
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: earlier and Florida, Epstein had been sent to prison for
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: two charges a soliciting prostitution, including one with a minor.
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: Andrew suspected there was yet more to find than the
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: Epstein files that could back up his claims, if only
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: people knew where to look in the three and a
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: half million pages of documents everyone was searching. Lutnik he
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: says he knew, though that Canter Fitzgerald's executives preferred to
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: use initials rather than full names in the emails andres
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: searched for HWL Howard William Lutnik and found emails sent
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: to and from Ebstein in twenty eighteen. Ebstein had talked
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: directly to Lutnik about a digital advertising company called Adfinn,
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: in which he and Lutnik's firm Counter Fitzgerald had both invested.
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: And I'm sure that that's true because I know that
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: at the time, we were pulling out a mobile gaming
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: platform here in Las Vegas, and of course you have
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: to have ads in it, right, So all this betting
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: at home was started by Canter Fitzgerald. We were the
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: first team to roll that out and it allowed you
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: to make wagers from your home. And look, the technology
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: is cool as shit, I'll be the first to tell you.
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: But when you have technology like that, it's great to
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: have a platform or an app or whatever that deals
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: with ads. So that was all baked into it. Andrew
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: spotted correspondence where Epstein had directly asked the HWL account,
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: what do you think the prospects for adfinnar Lutnik responded,
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: producing revenue. Finally, this is their year, next twelve months.
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: They need to become economically self sufficient. Andrees then shared
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: the information with US politicians on the House Oversight Committee,
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: the US Congress's main investigatory committee. Lutnick agreed to appear
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: before the committee in an off camera hearing in May.
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: Oh yeah, let them volunteer. Let him do it off
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: camera like everybody else. Let's not hold anyone accountable for
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: what they say. He's not been accused of any wrongdoing
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: in connection with Epstein, and he told the committee, I
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: unequivocally condemned the conduct attributed to Jeffrey Epstein and everyone
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: who participated in his legal activities, the survivors of his
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: crimes to deserve our respect and our support. What exactly
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: have you done for him, howie, besides pop off at
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: the mouth and give lip service. Lutnik repeated his claim
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: to the committee that he did not know until this
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: year that Epstein had been a co investor in Adfin. However,
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: democrats on the committee accused him of lying, and all
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: twenty one signed a letter demanding his resignation. Look, he lied. Okay,
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: I know people don't want to play politics and don't
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: want to look at their own team. But I'm here
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: to tell you Howard Lutnick is on team Lutnick, not
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: Team America, not you, not even Team Trump. The US
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: Commerce Department told us the allegations against Lutnik were a
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: desperate partisan distraction from the historic work of this administration,
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: adding that the Commerce Secretary has answered hundreds of questions
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: before Congress and there's no evidence of wrongdoing or legitimate
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: cause for concern. No, not at all. Everything's fine here, folks.
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: Nothing to see Jeffrey Epstein's next door neighbor just lied
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: to us about his relationship, and then that next door
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: neighbor happens to be the Commerce Secretary. But nothing to
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: see here. Why don't you move on? Have you heard
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: we're bombing Iran again? Or maybe you want to talk
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: about Nanty Guthrie. I mean, imagine having the audacity to
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: tell us there's no room or reason for legitimate concern. Buddy.
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: All I have is legitimate concern, and all of it's
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: directed at your administration. In another discovery andres made in
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: the Epstein files concerned Lutnik's association with two other people
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: who knew Epstein well, the then Prince Andrew and his
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: ex wife Sarah Ferguson. Lutnik had been friends with Ferguson
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: since the nineties and was a guest at Princess Eugenie's
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: wedding in twenty eighteen. Documents in the file revealed his
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: firm counter Fitzgerald, had a plan in twenty thirteen to
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: buy a prince, as Andrewes put it, and exploit Andrew's
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: contacts with wealthy individuals and sovereign institutions. While we all
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: know he was for sale. If you're looking to buy
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: a prince, you've come to the right place. Is there
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: anything Andrew wouldn't do for some money? I don't know.
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: I don't think so. I think that everything's on the table, honestly,
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: whether it's treason or engaging in what he was engaging
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: in with Jeffrey Epstein. Under the proposed terms of the deal,
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: one million would be loaned to a firm controlled by
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: the Prince, which would then be bound to do business
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: exclusively with Kener Fitzgerald. Epstein warned the Prince's business ay
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: David Stern, against the deal. The files reveal one of
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: his concerns was about the exclusivity of the deal. Under
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: its terms, Andrew could only introduce wealthy clients to Kenter
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: Fitzgerald and no one else. The files indicate that advisors
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: to both Lutnik and the former Prince discussed the deal
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: for four months from August to November twenty thirteen, but
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: it came to nothing. Asked about the deal, Kener Fitzgerald
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: did not deny the talks took place, but told the
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: BBC it did not go into business with the former Prince.
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: Andrew mount Baton Winsor did not respond to a request
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: for a comment. Well, no, shit, what do you think
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: he's going to say. He's not going to say anything.
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: If we're waiting for Prince Andrew to speak up again,
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: we're going to be waiting for a long time. Andreas,
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: now fifty seven, lives in a quiet corner seaside village
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: a world away from Wall Street. He says the litigation
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: of the past decade has had a devastating effect on
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: his career, his finances, and his health. Despite winning a
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: financial award of four hundred and twenty thousand for his
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: whistle blowing from the US regulator, Andrew says authorities in
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: the US and UK have felt the hold BGC and
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: Canner Fitzgerald properly to account order to protect him from
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: retaliation by his former employer for his reports of wrongdoing
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: that doesn't shock me. Howard Lutnik and Canter they don't
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: play by the rules. BGC says it has strong policies
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: protecting whistleblowers from retaliation and denies retaliating against Andrees. Says
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: it had no involvement with him since his departure, other
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: than responding to litigation he has initiated. It maintains Andre's
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: employment was terminated after he refused to follow medical advice,
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: declined to perform essential job duties, rejected reasonable accommodation, and
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: ultimately abandoned his role. Speaking on behalf of Lutnik, the
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: White House said the BBC's pathetic and desperate attempt to
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: slander Secretary Lutnik will do nothing to change the fact
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: that he's been the most consequential Commerce secretary in modern history.
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: Like what planet do these people live on. There's actually
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: people that believe that that shit's wild, because Howard Lutnick
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: is not somebody who's consequential. Howard Lutnik is just another
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: piece of the puzzle, right, another cog in the machine,
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: another scumbag that used his wealth and power to climb high. Meanwhile,
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: at the same time shitting on the rest of us,
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: treating the rest of us like we're stupid and treating
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: the rest of us like we should just move on. Well,
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: guess what, Howard Lutnik, we're not moving on from shit,
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: and we're certainly not moving on from the fact that
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: you lie to everybody about your relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: In fact, we're digging deeper, all right, folks. That's gonna
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: do it for this one. All the information that goes
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: with this episode can be found in the description box.