If for no other reason than as a distraction, Republican lawmakers are hoping that one member of Donald Trump’s inner circle will be pushed out due to his appearance in the Jeffrey Epstein files, reports MS NOW’s Jonathan Lemire.
On Tuesday’s “Morning Joe,” a discussion on why GOP lawmakers continue to block the names of men who had long-term ties to the convicted sex traffickers turned to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, whose links to Epstein have come under more intense scrutiny after his previous denials.
The latest files release suggests Lutnick was in contact with Epstein as recently as 2018, after Epstein pleaded guilty to sex crimes. They also suggest Lutnick went to Epstein's island. He has not been accused of any crime.
According to MS NOW “Way Too Early” host Ali Vitali, “Why are they not calling in some of these people? Yes, the president, but even below that, the Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, I was asking that question of [GOP Rep. James] Comer yesterday. He says he doesn't want to disrupt the depositions that are already on the books.
"I don't know how adding to the number of depositions is going to disrupt the ones that you already have booked. But this is now a ballooning question on Capitol Hill.”
“Yeah. And I mean, I guess that's the question you have,” co-host Joe Scarborough offered. “Howard Lutnick, obviously, Republicans — I'm sure Republicans would love for Donald Trump to fire Howard Lutnick. Here's a guy who appears to have lied through his teeth, saying, ‘Oh, I'm so shocked. I stopped talking to him in 2005.’ And then he's giddily asking if he can bring his family over to rape island. And then you find out in the files that he's living next door to Jeffrey Epstein.”
Asking, “Why does James Comer want to protect those horrible people?” Lemire replied. “We haven't seen someone in Washington really take a fall yet — no one in the Trump administration. Now, some of that is because people are trying to weaponize these leaks. I mean, Elon Musk, who, mind you, does appear in these emails himself, he's using them as a cudgel to go after Steve Bannon, who is all over them, you know, and then there's Howard Lutnick, who I've talked to.”
“You know, we talked about this yesterday briefly, Joe,” he continued. “There was a number of Republicans who say, ‘Look, this is abhorrent what he did, also just in terms of political expediency, he's an easy fall guy.' Like if you feel like you need to have a sacrificial lamb next, the guy, he's not particularly well liked in the Trump administration to begin with, though Trump himself is very fond of him. But that hasn't happened yet.”