Karoline Leavitt cuts short White House briefing after reporter asks about Commerce chief Lutnick's Epstein island admis [View all]
Source: The Independent
Tuesday 10 February 2026 15:31 EST
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday abruptly cut short a briefing with reporters after a reporter asked about Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
The question came hours after Lutnick, responding to questions from congressional lawmakers over documents released by the Justice Department, revealed that he misled the public about the extent of his ties to the convicted pedophile sex trafficker, who killed himself in jail while awaiting trial.
Leavitt was roughly 20 minutes into one of her regular briefings with the White House press corps when a reporter asked whether President Donald Trump would stand behind Lutnick, who earlier in the day had admitted to members of the Senate Commerce Committee that he’d visited Epstein’s notorious private island, Little Saint James. She replied that Trump “fully supports” Lutnick and described him as “a very important member of President Trump's team.”
But instead of allowing reporters to probe further into Trump’s views on Lutnick, or ask any other further questions, Leavitt launched into a monologue chastising reporters for not asking about various positive statistics touted by the administration on issues of importance to the president.
Read more: https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/karoline-leavitt-reporter-lutnick-epstein-island-b2917783.html
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