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Robert Garcia wants this Trump official to testify about his shocking Jeffrey Epstein claim
Photo #7160 October 03 2025, 08:15

Out Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) says that he’s going to get one of Donald Trump’s Cabinet members to testify before the House Oversight Committee about a surprising claim he made about deceased child sex trafficker and Donald Trump friend Jeffrey Epstein.

Garcia, who is the highest-ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, brought up a statement about a “massage room” made by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick earlier this week.

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Lutnick, who was Epstein’s neighbor, was talking to conservative podcaster Miranda Devine in an interview posted to YouTube where he brought up how he and his wife said they would “never” be in the same room as Epstein ever again after visiting his home once and hearing him tell them about how he liked to receive “the right kind of massage” every day.

Lutnick talked about the sweetheart deal Epstein received from former U.S. Attorney and Trump administration official Alex Acosta in 2008, the first time Epstein was arrested on charges connected to child sex trafficking, where he was sentenced to just 18 months in prison in exchange for a guilty plea. He served 13 months.

Lutnick suggested that Epstein got that deal through blackmailing powerful people.

“Whatever happened in that massage room, I assume, is on video,” Lutnick said, mentioning that getting powerful and wealthy people to get massages was his “MO [‘modus operandi’ or ‘mode of operation’].” “This guy was the greatest blackmailer ever.”

“I mean, he’s a serial sex offender. How could he get 18 months and be able to go to his office during the day and have visitors and stuff? There must have been a trade.”

Garcia, on CNN, said that the House Oversight Committee is going to try to get Lutnick’s testimony under oath.

“We need to speak to him, the entire Oversight Committee,” he said. “We’re very interested in understanding what exactly he knows, where those theories come from, and anyone, particularly if you’re in the Trump administration and you are saying those comments so freely, you have to have additional information so you can believe that we’re going to follow up.”

The White House said last month that the House Oversight Committee’s investigation into Epstein is “a very hostile act to the administration.”

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