Neil Mehta, Olivia Beavers Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said he was on a family vacation in the Caribbean and was surprised when he received an invitation to visit Jeffrey Epstein's private island in 2012, saying he didn't know how Epstein's assistants knew he was in the area and found it unsettling. Lutnick made the remarks Wednesday during a closed-door interview with a congressional panel, according to people familiar with the meeting.