Ruben Gallego Takes Aim At Howard Lutnick Over Epstein Ties: 'Took Your 4 Children To Have Lunch With a Man You Knew To Be a Child Abuser?'

Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego took aim at Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick over his ties with sexual abuser Jeffrey Epstein.

Gallego made reference to Lutnick's claim that he had lunch with Epstein on his private island. "My wife was with me, as were my four children and nannies," Lutnick said during a testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee.

"I had another couple with – they were there as well, with their children," he added. "And we had lunch on the island, that is true, for an hour. Then we left with all of my children. We were on family vacation. To suggest there was anything untoward about that in 2012 - I don't recall why we did it."

You took your 4 children to have lunch with a man you knew to be a child abuser and pedophile? WTF. https://t.co/UsKB03cDzF

— Ruben Gallego (@RubenGallego) February 10, 2026

Gallego reacted with a social media publication: "You took your 4 children to have lunch with a man you knew to be a child abuser and pedophile? WTF."

Epstein had pleaded guilty to state prostitution-related charges in Florida four years before the meeting took place. They included soliciting a minor.

Lutnick had previously said he cut ties with Epstein in 2005. He addressed the discrepancy saying that he met him "two other times that I can recall" between then and 2019. "So six years later, I met him, and then a year and a half after that, I met him, and never again," he said.

Another new report shed light on a discrepancy regarding President Donald Trump's ties with Epstein. The Miami Herald noted that Trump celebrated criminal charges against him 20 years ago, telling the then-Palm Beach police chief that the activities were well-known there and in New York.

The outlet reported that Trump told Michael Reiter "thank goodness you're stopping him, everyone has known he's been doing this." This stands in contrast with Trump's repeated claims that he had no knowledge of Epstein's sex crimes.

Reiter made the claim in a 2019 interview with the FBI included in the case files held by the Justice Department. He went on to say that Trump claimed Epstein's associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, was his "operative" and called her "evil."

Elsewhere in the interview, Reiter said Trump told him "he was around Epstein once when teenagers were present and Trump 'got the hell out of there.'" The former police officer confirmed he was interviewed by the FBI in 2019 and had a conversation with Trump in July 2006.

However, an FBI agent denied that Trump called Reiter. "We are not aware of any corroborating evidence that the President contacted law enforcement 20 years ago."

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