Multiple Democratic lawmakers are demanding answers after a newly unearthed photo released – and later pulled – by the Justice Department appears to show Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Jeffrey Epstein’s private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, with at least one lawmaker arguing that the photo proves Lutnick had lied under oath.
“Dear Howard Lutnick: So how many times did you go to Epstein’s rape island?” asked Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) in a social media post on X Thursday evening.
“Dear Attorney General Pam Bondi: Why are you covering up this picture of Epstein’s friend Lutnick? And are you really so stupid you think deleting a picture after you’ve posted it on the internet will make it go away?”
Last year, Lutnick gave a detailed account of what he said was his last interaction with Epstein: a dinner at Epstein’s home in 2005 that apparently left the future commerce secretary so disgusted that he cut off all contact with the disgraced financier. The DOJ’s release of files on Epstein last month, however, blew a hole in Lutnick’s version of events.
The files revealed that after 2005, Lutnick had not only visited Epstein’s island, but had done business with the disgraced financier and had maintained communication with him through at least 2018. Lutnick was forced to backtrack on his previous claims earlier this month after being pressed on the matter in a Senate committee hearing, telling lawmakers under oath that he had gone to Epstein’s island only once, and with his wife and children.
The newly unearthed photo, however, appears to show Lutnick in an undated photograph walking alongside Epstein on Epstein’s island, and without his wife or children.
“Under oath, Howard Lutnick testified that he went to Epstein's Island ONCE with his wife, kids, and nannies,” wrote Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA) in a social media post on X Thursday evening. “I see none of that here. What TF is happening [Bondi].”
Gomez’s conclusion, that the photograph in question appeared to undercut Lutnick’s claim given under oath and penalty of perjury, was shared by Lieu, who demanded answers from President Donald Trump’s DOJ.
“It would appear Howard Lutnick lied under oath,” Lieu wrote in a separate social media post on X Thursday night.
“Lutnick testified that he visited Epstein with his family and ‘nannies’ (He is so elite he had more than one nanny). This picture shows Lutnick with Epstein and all men on rape island. Why did [the DOJ] delete this picture?”
A DOJ official admitted that the agency had pulled the photograph of who appears to be Lutnick from its public online database of files on Epstein, and said in a statement to The Daily Beast that the photograph was pulled as it was “part of a batch of files that were flagged for nudity.” The official said that the photographs are being reviewed and will be uploaded again with “necessary redactions on a rolling basis.”
The existence of the photograph was uncovered after it was discovered on Jmail, a website that hosts its own public database of files on Epstein.
Dear @howardlutnick: So how many times did you go to Epstein’s rape island?
Dear @AGPamBondi: Why are you covering up this picture of Epstein’s friend Lutnick?
And are you really so stupid you think deleting a picture after you’ve posted it on the internet will make it go away? https://t.co/xdYVv8vmab
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) February 26, 2026