By STEPHEN GROVES<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Under questioning from Democrats Tuesday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick<\/a> acknowledged that he had met with Jeffrey Epstein<\/a> twice after his 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a child, reversing Lutnick\u2019s previous claim that he had cut ties with the late financier after 2005.<\/p>\n Lutnick once again downplayed his relationship with the disgraced financier who was once his neighbor in New York City as he was questioned by Democrats during a subcommittee hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee. He described their contact as a handful of emails and a pair of meetings that were years apart.<\/p>\n \u201cI did not have any relationship with him. I barely had anything to do with him,\u201d Lutnick told lawmakers.<\/p>\n But Lutnick is facing calls from several lawmakers for his resignation after the release of case files on Epstein<\/a> contradicted Lutnick\u2019s claims on a podcast<\/a> last year that he had decided to \u201cnever be in the room\u201d with Epstein again after a 2005 tour of Epstein\u2019s home that disturbed Lutnick and his wife.<\/p>\n The commerce secretary said Tuesday that he and his family actually had lunch with Epstein on his private island in 2012 and he had another hour-long engagement at Epstein\u2019s home in 2011. Lutnick, a member of President Donald Trump\u2019s<\/a> Cabinet, is the highest-profile U.S. official to face bipartisan calls for his resignation amid revelations of his ties to Epstein. His acknowledgement comes as lawmakers are grasping for what accountability looks like amid the revelations contained in what\u2019s known as the Epstein files.<\/p>\n