Congressman Thomas Massie says commerce secretary ‘has a lot to answer for’ over ties to late convicted sex offender

US House member Thomas Massie has called for the commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick – a fellow Republican – to resign over his ties to late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Massie, who co-authored a law mandating the release of the so-called Epstein files, appeared Sunday on CNN’s Inside Politics and said Lutnick, a staunch Donald Trump ally, “has a lot to answer for”.

“Really, he should make life easier on the president, frankly, and just resign,” Massie said. Alluding to how the Epstein scandal has roiled UK politics, including by costing Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor his title as a prince and Peter Mandelson his US ambassadorship, Massie added of Lutnick: “If this were Great Britain, he’d already be gone.”