William Timmons

Rep. William Timmons, R-S.C., defended Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Thursday after a closed-door House Oversight Committee interview examining Lutnick's ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein intensified scrutiny of the Cabinet official.

Timmons, a member of the committee, said Democrats were overstating Lutnick's ties to Epstein.

"There's really not much to tell because Secretary Lutnick didn't have any meaningful contact with Jeffrey Epstein," Timmons said on Newsmax's "National Report."

"The only thing he did was purchase a house next door to probably the most prolific sex trafficker, human trafficker in modern history," he added. "So he lived next to him for 15 years. Secretary Lutnick lived next door to him for 15 years, and they only interacted three times. Three times."

Timmons said Lutnick had been "very forthcoming" in Wednesday's interview and argued the secretary was being questioned about events that happened decades ago.

"Really, the answer is that there's nothing to tell," Timmons said.

House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., on Wednesday defended the panel’s decision to question Lutnick, saying he "wasn’t 100% truthful" about his past connections to Epstein and "whether or not he had been on the island" that Epstein owned in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Little St. James.

Democrats have accused Lutnick of being inconsistent about when he last interacted with Epstein.

Earlier this year, Lutnick acknowledged visiting Epstein's private island in 2012, years after Epstein's 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor, despite previously saying he had cut ties with Epstein earlier.

Timmons dismissed allegations that Lutnick intentionally misled lawmakers.

"They're taking conversations out of context," Timmons said. "They're just trying to draw this web. It's very tangled. But let me tell you, there's nothing there."

Timmons said investigators should instead focus on testimony from Epstein victims and more accountability for Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year federal prison sentence for sex trafficking offenses.

"I think that we need to focus on getting the victims' testimony," Timmons said. "Those are the avenues through which we're going to find the additional answers to these questions that the American people so desperately want."

The hearing came as a federal judge in New York ordered the release of a purported suicide note attributed to Epstein that had remained sealed for years.

The handwritten note, reportedly recovered after Epstein's failed suicide attempt in July 2019, stated in part: "They investigated me for months — FOUND NOTHING!!!" and "It is a treat to be able to choose one's time to say goodbye."

Court filings described the document as a "purported" suicide note, and it has not been authenticated.

Epstein, 66, died in federal custody in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges involving underage girls. His death was ruled a suicide.

The note's release coincided with growing political attention on Lutnick's relationship with Epstein after the commerce secretary appeared before the House Oversight Committee as part of lawmakers' broader investigation into Epstein's network and associates.

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