PoliticsKaitlan Collins Calls Out Karoline Leavitt for Whining About Coverage of Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick's Association With Jeffrey Epstein
The White House press secretary expressed irritation over repeated questions about Howard Lutnick's visit to Jeffrey Epstein's notorious island.
Feb. 11 2026, Published 11:20 a.m. ET
The bitter feud between Kaitlan Collins and Karoline Leavitt rages on.
The CNN anchor slammed the White House press secretary for whining about the coverage of Trump's Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick’s visit to Jeffrey Epstein’s notorious island.
On the Tuesday, February 10, episode of The Source With Kaitlan Collins, the reporter blasted Leavitt for attempting to dismiss Lutnick's association with the late pedophile during a White House briefing.
'You Continue to Ask Questions About the Same Subject'
Kaitlan Collins called out Karoline Leavitt for dismissing reporters' questions.
Earlier on Tuesday, Leavitt told reporters, "Secretary Lutnick remains a very important member of President Trump’s team, and the President fully supports the Secretary. I will just point out that there are a lot of wins in the news this week that people in this room have not asked about, because you continue to ask questions about the same subject."
After playing a clip of the press secretary's statement on her show, Collins declared, "Of course, this story has stayed in the headlines, because there’s new information, and survivors have been saying that they still want accountability here for what has happened."
Howard Lutnick Visited Jeffrey Epstein's Island in 2012
Howard Lutnick visited Jeffrey Epstein's island after the latter was convicted on s-- crimes.
The latest batch of Epstein-related documents revealed Lutnick had not in fact shunned the dead s-- offender like he previously stated over the years.
As such, the secretary appeared before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday to answer questions about his trip to the Caribbean island Epstein owned and used as part of his s-- trafficking scheme.
Lutnick visited the private area with his wife and children in 2012, years after the former financier was convicted for soliciting prostitution from a minor.
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Howard Lutnick Previously Denied Associating With Jeffrey Epstein
The Secretary of Commerce previously said he had cut off contact with the infamous pedophile.
Lutnick insisted in a recent interview that he'd cut off contact with Epstein, his former neighbor in New York, in 2005 after the infamous creep alluded to his sexual encounters with women while giving the businessman and his wife a tour of his Manhattan mansion.
"My wife and I decided that I will never be in the room with that disgusting person ever again," he explained on the "Pod Force One" podcast in October 2025. "So I was never in the room with him socially, for business or even philanthropy."
Howard Lutnick Admits to Visiting Jeffrey Epstein's Island
The businessman admitted to having lunch with Jeffrey Epstein at his private island.
However, in his testimony on Capitol Hill, the commerce secretary admitted, "I did have lunch with him, as I was on a boat, going across, on a family vacation."
At another point, he claimed, "I did not have any relationship with him. I barely had anything to do with that person."
Lutnick added, "I literally met him three times over 14 years with widespread in between. That’s all I can remember. That’s all there is in the documents."
Democrats are now calling for Lutnick's resignation over the inconsistencies in his statements.
