Khaberni - Republican members in the US Congress expressed their concern about the connections of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick with billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, who was convicted of sex crimes and accused of trafficking minors.
Lawmakers fear that this case could become a "major political burden" on the Republican Party ahead of the mid-term congressional elections scheduled for November 2026.
Contradictions in the Minister's Statements
The reactions within the Republican Party have been escalating since the revelation of Lutnick's visit to Epstein's island with his family, given his proximity to US President Donald Trump.
Some Republican members of the Senate said on Sunday that they are concerned about the possibility that Lutnick's relationships with Epstein could pose a significant political burden on their party.
In commenting on Lutnick's retraction of his earlier claim to have severed ties with Epstein in 2005, Senator Tom Tillis said: "This is very bad."
Tillis added: "Let's look at the timeline. He said he cut off all ties with him. What bothers me is that it's clearly not true. He's planning to have lunch on the island of someone he claimed he had severed all ties with."
Senior Republican Senator John Kennedy advised Minister Lutnick to engage in "serious crisis management", saying: "My advice to Minister Lutnick is to tell the truth and reveal everything. The documents we've seen clearly show that Lutnick had a series of contacts with Epstein."
Calls for Resignation
Republican House member Thomas Massie, who played a prominent role in releasing Epstein documents, openly called for Lutnick's resignation.
In the same context, the Republican Majority Leader in the Senate, John Thune, stated that all politicians whose names clearly appeared in Epstein documents would be directly accountable to the public and would enter a process requiring them to clarify their positions.
The US Department of Justice had previously published more than 3 million pages, two thousand video clips, and 180,000 images related to Epstein, under the "Epstein File Transparency Act" signed by President Donald Trump in November 2025.
The documents included the names of many prominent global figures such as British Prince Andrew, former US Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, singer Michael Jackson, and former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson.
