U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick admitted Tuesday that he and his family had lunch with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on the latter's private island in 2012.
Lutnick said during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing on Tuesday that he and his family did have lunch with Epstein for an hour on the island in 2012, but he did not have any relationship with Epstein.
He admitted that he met Epstein who was once his neighbor in New York City in 2005, and that the two met twice over the next 14 years, contradicting his claims on a podcast last year that he had only one encounter with Epstein.
Lutnick had previously said that he cut off contact with Epstein in 2005. But the latest Epstein files released by the U.S. Department of Justice in January showed that he and Epstein remained in touch years later. And the two men also had business dealings as recently as 2014, local media reported.
Lutnick is now under pressure from both Democrats and some Republicans to resign.
Epstein pleaded guilty to a state charge of soliciting a minor for prostitution in 2008. He was arrested again in July 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges and died by suicide in jail on Aug 10, 2019, before trial.
U.S. commerce secretary admits having lunch with Epstein on private island
Witnesses have recalled the terrifying moment a five-story residential building spontaneously collapsed in the Lebanese city of Tripoli on Sunday, killing at least 15 people. The collapse occurred on Sunday afternoon in in Tripoli's Bab al-Tabbaneh district. According to local authorities, the building, an aging residential structure, crumbled within seconds. The mayor of Tripoli, Abdel Hamid Karimeh said the city is facing a growing building safety crisis, warning that thousands of structures are at risk due to years of neglect and lack of maintenance.
A witness who was near the scene said the collapse happened suddenly, leaving no time for people to react.
"I was here, sitting outside my shop. It was around 3:30 or 4:00 p.m. when it happened. At that time, as far as I can remember, we were the only ones on the street. Our neighbor's daughter was here. She is about 12 or 13 years old. She ran, jumped toward me, and said, 'The building is collapsing.' I looked at the building. In a matter of seconds, it crumbled completely. In the blink of an eye, it collapsed completely - no wall fell first, no warning at all," he said.
Another resident said people from the nearby neighborhoods joined rescue efforts, working together to clear rubble and search for survivors.
"When disaster struck, the Al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen neighborhoods joined forces to clear the rubble and save lives, and to recover bodies from under the debris. I have two children who were on the street at the time of the tragedy. I gave it my all until I found them," the resident said.
Witnesses recount sudden collapse of residential building in Lebanon
