Relationship of Bill Clinton and Jeffrey Epstein

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Bill Clinton meeting Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell in the White House (1993)

Bill Clinton, the 42nd President of the United States, developed a social and professional relationship with financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that began in the early 1990s and continued into the early 2000s. During Clinton’s presidency, Epstein made multiple visits to the White House and maintained ties with Clinton’s associates; after Clinton left office, he traveled on Epstein’s private jet on several occasions for charitable trips.[1] Since Epstein’s later exposure as a sex offender, Clinton’s connection to him has drawn significant scrutiny and speculation in the media and political sphere.[2] Clinton has denied any knowledge of Epstein’s criminal activities and distanced himself from the disgraced financier in the years before Epstein’s 2019 arrest and death.[1]

History

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1990s: White House contacts and early ties

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Epstein’s interactions with Clinton can be traced to the early 1990s. After donating $1,000 to Bill Clinton’s presidential election campaign in 1991, Epstein donated $10,000 to the White House Historical Association in 1993 and, accompanied by his companion Ghislaine Maxwell, attended a donors’ reception hosted by President Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton.[1] Around the same period, visitor logs indicate Epstein paid several visits to the White House to meet with Mark Middleton, a Clinton aide and Assistant to the Chief of Staff, in 1993–1995. Middleton, a friend of Clinton’s from Arkansas, was later identified as having facilitated Epstein’s White House access in at least three instances.[3]

By 1995, Epstein was circulating in Clinton’s social orbit: that year, he and Maxwell attended a small fundraising dinner at the Palm Beach home of billionaire Ron Perelman, which Clinton also attended.[3]

In April 1995, businesswoman Lynn Forester (later Lynn Forester de Rothschild), a Clinton supporter, wrote a personal letter to the President mentioning that she had used her “fifteen seconds of access” to discuss “Jeffrey Epstein and currency stabilization” with him, suggesting Clinton was acquainted with Epstein’s financial acumen. Clinton’s later schedules and archives confirm that Epstein and Maxwell were received as part of at least one White House donor event in 1993, though the exact nature of their conversations with Clinton remains unclear.[3]

2001–2003: Post-presidency friendship and flights

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Clinton left office in January 2001 and soon embarked on humanitarian and philanthropic initiatives via the Clinton Foundation. During this post-presidential period, his association with Epstein continued in the context of charity travel and social meetings. Epstein was an active supporter of the Clinton Foundation, even lending his Boeing 727 private jet for Clinton’s international trips.[4]

In 2002 and 2003, Clinton took multiple flights on Epstein’s plane, commonly known by the nickname “Lolita Express”, as part of foundation-related tours to promote global health and economic development. Flight log records later indicated Clinton’s name on at least 17 legs of Epstein’s flights in that timeframe.[1] On one high-profile trip in 2002, Clinton flew aboard Epstein’s jet to Africa along with actors Kevin Spacey and Chris Tucker to visit HIV/AIDS project sites.[5] Clinton’s spokesman would later clarify that these comprised four distinct trips on Epstein’s aircraft – one to Europe, one to Asia, and two to Africa – and that Clinton was accompanied by staff, foundation supporters, and Secret Service agents on all legs of those journeys.[1]

Around the same time period, Clinton also visited Epstein’s New York apartment and office in 2002, each time with his aide and security detail present.[1] Clinton and Epstein appeared to be on friendly terms; a photo from 2002 shows them together during a stop in Brunei, and in an interview that year Clinton praised Epstein as a “highly successful financier” and “a committed philanthropist”.[3] According to one of his lawyers, Epstein was “part of the original group” that conceived the Clinton Global Initiative, a flagship program of Clinton’s philanthropic work.[6] This collegial relationship extended to Maxwell as well – she and Epstein were invited guests at events early in the Clinton Foundation era, and Maxwell was noted as the likely social “glue” connecting Epstein to Clinton’s world.[3]

After 2003: Diminished contact and Virginia Giuffre lawsuit

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Clinton’s direct contact with Epstein appears to have tapered off by the mid-2000s. Epstein was arrested and convicted in Florida in 2008 on charges of procuring a minor for prostitution. There is no public evidence that Clinton and Epstein interacted after about 2005–2006; in 2019 Clinton’s office stated he had “not spoken to Epstein in well over a decade”.[4]

However, Epstein’s close associate Ghislaine Maxwell continued to socialize within Clinton’s family circle for some years. Maxwell notably attended Chelsea Clinton’s wedding in 2010, traveled on a private yacht with Chelsea in 2009, and even participated in Clinton Global Initiative conferences as late as 2013. A Clinton spokesperson later said that Chelsea and Maxwell were not close friends despite Maxwell’s appearances at these events.[6]

In late 2014 and 2015, Epstein’s name resurfaced in headlines due to a civil lawsuit filed by Virginia Giuffre (née Roberts), one of Epstein’s underage victims, who alleged she had been trafficked to prominent men. Giuffre claimed in an interview that she saw Bill Clinton on Epstein’s private Caribbean island (Little St. James) shortly after Clinton’s presidency, and that Clinton dined with Epstein there, although she never accused Clinton of any sexual wrongdoing. Giuffre later backtracked part of her story, admitting she had not literally witnessed Clinton arrive by helicopter as she initially recounted. Maxwell, in a deposition, vehemently denied Giuffre’s account, calling it “an obvious lie”.[7]

A Freedom of Information Act request to the U.S. Secret Service found no evidence that Clinton ever visited Epstein’s island during or after his presidency.[4] Giuffre’s attorneys nonetheless argued that Clinton was a “key” witness due to his “close personal relationship” with Epstein and Maxwell, and in 2016 they formally requested to depose Clinton in the Giuffre v. Maxwell case.[7] This request was denied by a federal judge, and Clinton was never deposed. Notably, unsealed court documents from Giuffre’s lawsuit (made public in 2024) did list Bill Clinton as an associate of Epstein alongside many other famous figures.[1]

Renewed scrutiny after 2019

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On July 6, 2019, Epstein was arrested on federal charges of sex trafficking minors, prompting intense media focus on all his past connections. Bill Clinton’s office released a public statement soon after, detailing the extent of Clinton’s interactions with Epstein in an effort to dispel rumors. The statement confirmed the 2002–03 plane trips (four trips totalling a number of flights, as previously described) and acknowledged a meeting in Epstein’s New York apartment in 2002, but asserted that Clinton “knows nothing about the terrible crimes” Epstein committed and had never visited Epstein’s island, New Mexico ranch, or Palm Beach residence. It also emphasized that Clinton had not spoken to Epstein since approximately 2002–2003.[8][1]

In late 2019, a federal appeals court unsealed thousands of pages of documents from prior Epstein lawsuits, including private flight logs. These logs corroborated that Epstein’s pilots recorded Bill Clinton as a passenger on numerous flights between 2001 and 2003, often related to Clinton Foundation work or paid speaking tours.[8]

In the years following Epstein’s 2019 death, scrutiny of Clinton’s ties has persisted, including in official inquiries. In 2023–2024, Republicans in Congress signaled interest in investigating Epstein’s connections to U.S. officials. Finally, in 2025, the House Oversight Committee (led by Rep. James Comer) issued subpoenas for testimony from Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton regarding Epstein. Comer’s letter alleged that the Clinton family “had a close relationship” with Epstein and Maxwell, highlighting Clinton’s admitted plane trips on Epstein’s jet and claiming that Clinton was photographed receiving a massage from one of Epstein’s victims during one trip[9][1] (the victim herself stated that the impromptu massage was innocent and that Clinton was a “perfect gentleman” during the trip[10]). As of mid-2025, Bill Clinton is scheduled to appear before the committee in October.[1]

According to a Wall Street Journal report published in July 2025, Bill Clinton contributed a handwritten note to a birthday greeting album that Ghislaine Maxwell compiled for Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003. The message, written in what the WSJ described as Clinton's “distinctive scrawl,” reads: “It’s reassuring isn’t it, to have lasted as long, across all the years of learning and knowing, adventures and [illegible word], and also to have your childlike curiosity, the drive to make a difference and the solace of friends.”[11][12]

Political fallout and conspiracy theories

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Clinton’s relationship with Epstein has been the subject of extensive commentary, political controversy, and conspiracy theories, particularly after Epstein’s crimes came to light. Political opponents of the Clintons have frequently highlighted the association. During Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, for example, Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus in 2015 pointed to Bill Clinton’s interactions with Epstein “multiple times, on private jets, on weekends, on trips to places where it’s been reported not very good things happen”. He argued that the Clintons owed the public a full explanation of their dealings.[4]

In 2019, President Donald Trump openly fueled speculation about Clinton’s ties to Epstein. Following Epstein’s apparent suicide in jail, Trump retweeted a conspiracy theory suggesting the Clintons were behind Epstein’s death and told reporters it was a “respected” pundit’s opinion. Trump went further to accuse Clinton of lying about his trips on Epstein’s plane, claiming flight records showed Clinton had been onboard “27 or 28 times” when Clinton said it was only four—“Why did he say four times?” Trump remarked, insinuating that Clinton was concealing the true extent of the friendship (In fact, the number “27” appears to count individual flight segments, while Clinton’s statement counted four extended trips comprising those segments). Clinton’s spokesman Angel Ureña responded by calling Trump’s insinuations “ridiculous” and noted that even in those unsealed files there was no allegation of wrongdoing by Clinton.[8]

The mystery surrounding Epstein’s death and the broader “Epstein scandal” in 2019 also gave rise to a surge of conspiracy theories on social media, many of which implicated the Clintons without evidence. The phrase “Clinton Body Count” – a long-running conspiracy trope alleging the Clintons orchestrate the deaths of their enemies – trended anew with insinuations that Bill or Hillary Clinton had Epstein killed. Hours after Epstein's death, Trump retweeted claims that Epstein's death was related to Clinton, including the hashtag #ClintonBodyCount.[13][14] After Epstein acomplice Jean-Luc Brunel died by suicide in a French prison before going on trial, on February 19, 2022. Senator Ted Cruz attempted to link Brunel's death to the Clintons by asking "Anyone know where Hillary was this weekend?".[15] On May 7, 2022, Mark Middleton (who linked Epstein to Clinton) was found dead at the Heifer Ranch in Perryville, Arkansas, approximately 30 miles from his home, with a shotgun found near his dead body. His death was ruled a suicide. His family was harassed by conspiracy theorists after his death.[16]

Epstein’s former employee Johanna Sjoberg testified that Epstein had once quipped “Clinton likes them young” in reference to girls. Another allegation surfaced in a 2011 email from Virginia Giuffre (made public years later), in which Giuffre told a journalist that “B. Clinton” had personally intervened to pressure Vanity Fair magazine not to publish an exposé about Epstein’s sex trafficking, calling Epstein “his good friend".[17]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Bill Clinton and Jeffrey Epstein's friendship timeline". The Independent. 2025-08-06. Retrieved 2025-08-13.
  2. ^ Prokop, Andrew (2019-07-09). "Jeffrey Epstein's connections to Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, explained". Vox. Retrieved 2025-08-13.
  3. ^ a b c d e Reporter, Suzi ParkerEmily Shugerman Senior (2019-07-24). "Jeffrey Epstein Visited Clinton White House Multiple Times in Early '90s". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2025-08-13.
  4. ^ a b c d "The one weird court case linking Trump, Clinton, and a billionaire pedophile". POLITICO. 2017-05-04. Retrieved 2025-08-13.
  5. ^ Cranley, Ellen. "Financier Jeffrey Epstein once flew Bill Clinton and Kevin Spacey to Africa". Business Insider. Retrieved 2025-08-13.
  6. ^ a b "Meet the woman who ties Jeffrey Epstein to Trump and the Clintons". POLITICO. 2019-07-21. Retrieved 2025-08-13.
  7. ^ a b "Court documents naming Jeffrey Epstein's associates unsealed". ABC News. Retrieved 2025-08-13.
  8. ^ a b c "Trump defends sharing Clinton-Epstein conspiracy theory". POLITICO. 2019-08-13. Retrieved 2025-08-13.
  9. ^ "Bill and Hillary Clinton ordered to testify in Jeffrey Epstein investigation". The Independent. 2025-08-06. Retrieved 2025-08-13.
  10. ^ "Fact Check: Real photo shows Epstein accuser Chauntae Davies giving Bill Clinton shoulder massage in 2002". Yahoo News. 2025-08-03. Retrieved 2025-08-13.
  11. ^ Nowell, Cecilia (2025-07-25). "Bill Clinton reportedly sent Jeffrey Epstein note for birthday album". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-08-13.
  12. ^ Palazzolo, Khadeeja Safdar and Joe (2025-07-24). "Exclusive | Jeffrey Epstein's Birthday Book Included Letters From Bill Clinton, Leon Black". WSJ. Retrieved 2025-08-13.
  13. ^ Weill, Kelly (2019-08-10). "Conspiracy Theories Erupt After Jeffrey Epstein's Death". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2025-08-13.
  14. ^ "Trump retweets Epstein conspiracy theory, claiming Clinton connection". NBC News. 2019-08-11. Retrieved 2025-08-13.
  15. ^ "Ted Cruz under fire for attempt to link Hillary Clinton to Epstein associate". The Independent. 2022-02-21. Retrieved 2025-08-13.
  16. ^ "Family of former Clinton aide seek order sealing images from scene of his death | Arkansas Democrat Gazette". www.arkansasonline.com. 2022-06-08. Retrieved 2025-08-13.
  17. ^ Booth, Robert (2024-01-05). "Prince Andrew, Clinton, Hawking: what do the Epstein documents say about key people?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-08-13.