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How Ghislaine Maxwell brought Bill Clinton into Epstein's orbit
Documents in the Epstein files reveal how Maxwell nurtured the connection between the two men after Clinton left the White House.
How Ghislaine Maxwell brought Bill Clinton into Epstein's orbit
2 days ago
Kayla EpsteinNew York
[Reuters Ghislaine Maxwell and Bill Clinton swim in a lavish marble pool, a woman with her face blacked out is also swimming in the pool]
Reuters
There is a photo that shows Bill Clinton taking a night-time swim alongside Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite now convicted of sex trafficking.
Another captures him smiling backstage at a Rolling Stones concert in Hong Kong with Jeffrey Epstein, the late financier and now globally notorious sex offender.
A third undated snap shows the former US president reclining in a hot tub beside someone whose face is blacked out to protect their identity.
Clinton's links to Epstein have been well known for years, with the former president stating it was his charity work after leaving the White House that brought them together.
Now images and emails released by the Department of Justice provide clues about the extent of the relationship, and reveal the work going on behind the scenes by Maxwell to nurture the connection between the two men.
The newly released material is likely to play a central part in tough questioning the former Democratic president is undergoing by a Republican-led congressional committee. The testimony on Friday makes Clinton the latest powerful figure to face scrutiny for their association with the late disgraced financier.
Reuters
The files do not implicate Clinton in any wrongdoing; he has not been accused of misconduct by Epstein's victims who have come forward so far, and there is no proof he knew of his crimes. Clinton's spokesperson has said the photos are decades old and Clinton had stopped associating with Epstein before his crimes came to light.
But the new material does apparently indicate how Clinton's world collided with Epstein's in the early 2000s, when Clinton was redefining himself as an ex-president on a philanthropic mission. He was in the market for wealthy donors to the Clinton Foundation and later to the Clinton Global Initiative, a gathering of leaders devoted to addressing world problems.
At the time, Epstein was a money manager and jet-setting financier who, with his girlfriend Maxwell, was hobnobbing with the world's wealthiest from Buckingham Palace to Palm Beach and collecting powerful friends along the way.
There are no direct messages between Clinton and Epstein in emails reviewed by the BBC, but the two men are the subject of much correspondence between Maxwell and Clinton's top aide, Doug Band.
[Getty Images Maxwell stands next to Band and poses for a picture]
Getty Images
Band (right) called Maxwell his "social matchmaker"
Maxwell's emails with Band between 2002 and 2004 reveal a cosy relationship, rife with flattery and sexual innuendo. He called her his "social matchmaker" and "lover"; she complimented his social and physical prowess.
Their extensive communications help explain the former president's proximity to Epstein and how keen the people working on behalf of both men were to maintain that connection. There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by Band.
Maxwell and Band set up meetings for the Clinton Global Initiative and were involved in arranging Clinton's flights on Epstein's private jet, the documents indicate. He flew on the plane at least 24 times, flight logs show
Clinton's spokesperson said the former president took trips on the plane including "stops in connection with the work of the Clinton Foundation".
The flight logs, documents and correspondence corroborate the former president's assertions that he cut off contact with Epstein well before the disgraced financier was indicted in 2006, and before pleading guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution from a minor. Hillary Clinton, then a US senator from New York, did not accompany her husband on trips with Epstein and has said she doesn't remember meeting him.
In his opening statement to his testimony on Friday, Bill Clinton said he "had no idea of the crimes Epstein was committing.
"I know what I saw, and more importantly what I didn't see," he said. "I know what I did, and more importantly, what I didn't do. I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong."
The former president said he was not looking forward to being questioned but pledged to answer "to the best of my abilities, consistent with the facts as I know them: the legitimate, the logical, and even the outlandish".
A whirlwind tour
On 21 September 2002, Clinton boarded Epstein's private jet, and embarked on a whirlwind tour of African countries with several celebrities,according to flight logs.
The trip received high-profile press coverage as did the Clinton-Epstein connection.
Clinton told New York Magazine through a spokesperson at the time that Epstein was "both a highly successful financier and a committed philanthropist" and he "especially appreciated his insights and generosity during the recent trip to Africa to work on democratisation, empowering the poor, citizen service, and combating HIV/AIDS".
The magazine described a transactional attachment: "What attracted Clinton to Epstein was quite simple: He had a plane."
"Mr Epstein offered a plane that was large enough to accommodate me, my staff, and my US Secret Service detail, in support of visiting the Foundation's philanthropic work," the president said in a sworn statement submitted to Congress last month and obtained by the BBC.
He said he and his staff took flights "visiting Foundation projects and attending conferences and meetings" and said he never visited Epstein's island.
Over nearly two years, from February 2002 to November 2003, Clinton flew on Epstein's plane to Europe, Africa, Asia, Russia and - closer to home - Miami and New York, according to the flight logs. At the time, Clinton's team was trying to raise money for his foundation - as much as $100m (£74.3m), according to a memo published by WikiLeaks.
Recently released images taken during the trips include photos of Clinton smiling as he walks with staff, and shakes hands with local officials.
But there are also the images that have already drawn lawmakers' curiosity and questions. Clinton swimming with Ghislaine Maxwell in one undated photo; reclining in the hot tub next to the person whose face has been blacked out. And the previously published image with a young woman perched next to him on an armrest.
[Reuters Bill Clinton reclines in a hot tub next to a person whose face has been covered by a black square to protect their identity]
Reuters
Maxwell was the key link between Epstein and Clinton, she told the justice department in a 2025 deposition..pdf) Epstein had visited the White House for events in the early 1990s - along with hundreds of other guests - and was photographed with Clinton, then president.
"Epstein had gone to the White House, but they had not met," she told Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. "They met because of me."
A lawyer for Maxwell, who is in prison for sex trafficking, did not return messages from the BBC seeking comment. When summoned to testify before the House committee this month, she declined to answer questions, citing her constitutional right against self-incrimination.
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