Documents from the released Epstein files show U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick had business dealings with Jeffrey Epstein that extend beyond the “limited interactions” Lutnick has described. Records indicate the two were co-investors in a deal as recently as December 2012 and had ongoing correspondence into 2014.
On Dec. 28, 2012, signed agreements show Lutnick and Epstein each executed documents on behalf of limited liability companies to acquire stakes in Adfin, an advertising-technology firm that later shut down. Epstein signed for Southern Trust Company, Inc.; Lutnick signed for an LLC identified as CVAFH I. The contract lists nine shareholders and bears adjacent signatures from multiple parties.
Emails and other materials in the files suggest contact after 2005, the year Lutnick has said he and his wife ended ties with Epstein. In 2011 the two arranged phone calls and planned to meet for drinks. In 2012 Lutnick and his wife received an invitation for their four children to visit Epstein’s island, Little St. James. Lutnick attended a lunch on Dec. 24, 2012; Epstein’s assistant later wrote on Epstein’s behalf, “it was nice seeing you.” The Adfin agreement was signed four days after that lunch.
A source close to Lutnick told CBS News Cantor Fitzgerald, the firm Lutnick led for decades, was a small minority investor in Adfin. The source said as a minority investor Lutnick would not necessarily know the identities of other investors. Eleven days after the Adfin transaction, on Jan. 8, 2013, Epstein’s assistant forwarded Lutnick a document about casino legislation in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where Epstein had property and business interests; a Lutnick spokesperson says he ignored that document.
The Commerce Department declined to portray the documents as significant, saying the reporting was a “failing attempt by the legacy media to distract from the administration’s accomplishments.” The department reiterated that “Secretary Lutnick had limited interactions with Mr. Epstein in the presence of his wife and has never been accused of wrongdoing.”
Correspondence tied to Adfin continued at least through 2014. One shareholder, David Mitchell, emailed Epstein about additional fundraising and referenced Cantor Ventures, Cantor Fitzgerald’s venture-capital arm. Lutnick had led Cantor since 1991 and became chairman in 1996.
The files also trace a residential connection: Epstein sold a Manhattan property at 11 East 71st Street to an entity called Comet Trust in 1996; that property was sold two years later to Lutnick and became his primary residence, located next door to Epstein’s townhouse.
By the time Lutnick and Epstein agreed to buy stakes in Adfin, Epstein’s controversial 2008 Florida plea deal was already on record. Federal sex-trafficking charges were later filed against Epstein in 2019; he died in custody soon after that arrest.
The released materials include examples of Epstein managing relationships and public perception. In 2017 he agreed to donate $50,000 to a dinner honoring Lutnick and told hedge‑fund billionaire John Paulson, “hope pr is ok,” while declining a donor-level table and saying Lutnick could fill the seats. Their interactions continued into 2018, when Lutnick emailed Epstein about a proposed expansion of the neighboring Frick Collection, warning the renovation might “block your sunlight and views” and urging action: “You should put in a letter. I’m sending a lawyer. Don’t ignore this.”