WASHINGTON – Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, a former neighbour of Jeffrey Epstein who visited the disgraced financier on his Caribbean island, on May 6 became the first sitting Cabinet member to testify to the US House committee investigating the sex offender’s crimes and possible lapses in the law enforcement response.

Mr Lutnick came under fire earlier this year after documents released by the Justice Department revealed the former chief executive officer of Cantor Fitzgerald visited Epstein’s island in 2012, years after Epstein’s conviction for the procurement of minors for prostitution.

House Oversight chairman James Comer, a Republican, told reporters on May 6 that Mr Lutnick “wasn’t 100 per cent truthful” in prior public statements about whether he had visited Epstein’s island, but added he had not seen any evidence of wrongdoing by the Commerce secretary.

Democrats challenged the credibility of Mr Lutnick’s testimony to the committee during a mid-day break in the closed-door session. Several of the Democrats mocked Mr Lutnick’s clear recollection of a 2005 meeting with Epstein but inability to recall details of his visit to Epstein’s private island seven years later.

“It was contortions and lies and no acknowledgment that he misled the American public,” Representative Ro Khanna of California told reporters.

Mr Lutnick arrived at a Capitol office building on the morning of May 6 surrounded by security and aides and did not respond to reporters’ shouted questions.

He is testifying behind closed doors, and the committee plans to release a transcript in the coming days. The panel so far has not taken any testimony on Epstein in open public hearings.

A Commerce spokesperson said Mr Lutnick looked forward to addressing the committee’s questions on the record and called any claims against him baseless and inaccurate. 

The Justice Department files include what appear to be business agreements between Mr Lutnick and Epstein as well as a photo of Epstein,...