By David Shepardson and Susan Heavey
The U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Goldman Sachs lawyer Kathryn Ruemmler, and Apollo Global Management co-founder Leon Black will testify before a House committee about their connections to disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said Lutnick is appearing voluntarily. Representatives for Ruemmler and Black also said they will answer lawmakers’ questions.
“I applaud his commitment to transparency and appreciate his willingness to participate in the committee’s work,” Comer said of Lutnick in a Tuesday post.
In another post, the Kentucky Republican indicated he was also calling on Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates, Lesley Groff, Sarah Kellen, Ted Waitt, and Doug Band to appear.
Doug Band founded the consulting firm Teneo and has been an official at the Clinton Foundation, a charity led by former President Bill Clinton, who testified last week before the House panel of experts about his relationship with Epstein.
Groff and Kellen are former employees of Epstein, according to CBS News. Waitt is the former CEO of Gateway.
Black’s representatives said he is eager to answer lawmakers’ questions. Representatives for the other individuals could not be immediately reached for comment or did not immediately respond.
Goldman Sachs also did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Ruemmler, who is leaving the company.
In January, the Justice Department released millions of new records related to Epstein, including emails showing Lutnick visited Epstein’s private island in the Caribbean for lunch, years after Epstein claimed to have cut ties.
Lutnick, appointed by former Republican President Donald Trump last year, now faces calls from Democrats and Republicans to resign.
The Commerce Department had no comment. Lutnick told Axios he was looking forward to testifying, adding: “I have done nothing wrong and I want to set the record straight.”
The former CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald is one of many powerful men in politics, business, and entertainment, including Trump himself, who are under scrutiny for their ties to Epstein.
OTHER TESTIMONIES REQUESTED
On Monday, shareholders sued Apollo Global Management, Black, and Marc Rowan, another co-founder, alleging they were fraudulently misled for more than five years about the private equity firm’s business ties with Epstein.
Last month, Lutnick told lawmakers he had “virtually nothing” to do with Epstein, but he is facing questions about apparent contradictions between newly released documents and his earlier remarks on Epstein, who lived near Lutnick in New York City.
Lutnick said he and Epstein exchanged only about a dozen emails and met three times in 14 years, and he had lunch with Epstein only because he was on a boat near the financier’s island, adding that his family was present.
Last month, Goldman Sachs said Ruemmler would step down as chief legal officer after documents showed she accepted gifts from Epstein and advised him on how to handle media inquiries about his crimes. Her resignation will be effective on June 30, a source told Reuters.
Gates acknowledged having had two encounters with Russian women discovered by Epstein later, but he said there was no connection to Epstein’s victims, as reported by the Wall Street Journal last month.
A Gates Foundation spokesperson later said Gates took responsibility for his actions regarding ties to Epstein during a meeting with group employees.
