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U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick sought to distance himself on Tuesday from Jeffrey Epstein, alleging he “barely had anything to do with” the convicted sex offender amid calls for his resignation over new revelations about ties between them.

The U.S. Justice Department in January published millions of new files related to Epstein, including emails that show Lutnick apparently visited Epstein’s private island for lunch years after he claimed to have cut off ties. Lutnick is facing calls from both Democrats and some Republicans to resign.

Jail staff guarding Jeffrey Epstein allegedly deployed a decoy body to fool reporters gathered outside the prison following his death, newly unsealed files claim. An internal memo states a supervisor at Manhattan’s Metropolitan Correctional Center told FBI agents that workers staged the deception amid a huge media presence after Epstein’s apparent suicide in 2019.

The documents allege officers arranged boxes and sheets to resemble a corpse before loading the dummy into a white van marked as belonging to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, prompting journalists to follow it while the real body was removed separately. The files claim Epstein’s body was instead placed into a black vehicle that left the facility “unnoticed”, allowing officers to move it in private after staff warned of the large crowd outside. Records also show investigators recovered a handwritten note from inside Epstein’s cell that the medical examiner did not classify as a suicide note. Described as “difficult to read”, it appeared to list grievances about jail conditions, including complaints about food, showers and insects.

Newly released records – part of a cache of three million documents – describe the response inside the prison as media gathered outside after Jeffrey Epstein was found dead.