Report says Lutnick donated $5 million to House GOP super PAC before Epstein testimony

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick donated $5 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund on April 1, weeks before closed-door House Oversight testimony about his past Epstein contacts. Reporting on the donation raised questions about timing, political influence, and whether a sitting Cabinet official was being treated evenly by congressional investigators. The event should be read alongside separate testimony rows. The political-finance question is narrower than the testimony itself: whether a major contribution to a House GOP super PAC before oversight testimony created an appearance-of-influence concern.