Calls for Lutnick's testimony in Epstein case renew as deleted photograph shows up on DoJ's website

Several members of Congress are demanding answers after a photograph they say depicts Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick with Jeffrey Epstein on the disgraced financier’s private island was briefly removed from the Justice Department’s website.

The image was part of the department’s online archive of Epstein-related materials released in late January under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. At one point, the webpage hosting the photograph on Justice.gov displayed an error message. However, a version archived by the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine on January 31, 2026, remained publicly accessible and included the image.

The Justice Department has since restored the page. A spokesperson told CNN, “This image was part of a batch of files that were flagged for nudity. The 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.”

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The temporary removal has drawn scrutiny from lawmakers, including at least one Republican member of the House Oversight Committee. On X Thursday, Rep. Nancy Mace wrote of the photo, “Howard Lutnick should take questions from the Oversight committee.”

On Friday, President Donald Trump told reporters that Lutnick would testify before Congress regarding his relationship with Epstein. “Howard would go in and say whatever he has to say,” Trump told CNN. “He’s a very innocent guy, he’s doing a good job.”

Earlier this month, Lutnick appeared before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee, where he faced questions about his past interactions with Epstein. Newly released communications from the Justice Department appear to challenge Lutnick’s earlier assertion that he severed ties with Epstein in 2005, prior to Epstein being investigated and later convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor.

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During that testimony, Lutnick acknowledged visiting Epstein’s private island in 2012 while vacationing with his family.

“I did have lunch with him, as I was on a boat going across on a family vacation. My wife was with me, as were my four children and nannies,” Lutnick told a congressional committee. “We had lunch on the island, that is true, for an hour, and we left with all of my children with my nannies and my wife… I don’t recall why we did it.”

He rejected suggestions of a closer relationship, noting that they had met as neighbors in New York.

“Of these millions and millions of documents, there may be 10 emails connecting me with him… over a 14-year period,” Lutnick told senators. “I did not have any relationship with him. I barely had anything to do with that person.”