Newly released images linked to Epstein have brought former president Bill Clinton and convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell back into focus, after photographs showing the two together in a poolside setting surfaced.
Question lingers over Clinton’s past association with Epstein, though the photographs don’t implicate any of the individuals pictured in Epstein’s criminal activities.
Clinton has previously acknowledged association with sex offender, while denying any knowledge of his crimes, according to the BBC.
Angel Ureña, a spokesman for Bill Clinton, defended the former president in said in a statement posted on X.
“The White House hasn’t been hiding these files for months only to dump them late on a Friday to protect Bill Clinton. This is about shielding themselves from what comes next, or from what they’ll try and hide forever. So they can release as many grainy 20-plus-year-old photos as they want, but this isn’t about Bill Clinton. Never has, never will be,” Ureña said.
“There are two types of people here. The first group knew nothing and cut Epstein off before his crimes came to light. The second group continued relationships with him after. We’re in the first. No amount of stalling by people in the second group will change that. Everyone, especially MAGA, expects answers, not scapegoats,” he added.
The former president was among several high-profile figures who moved in overlapping social circles with Epstein during the 1990s and early 2000s, the BBC reported. Then-businessman Donald Trump was also photographed with Epstein during that period, including at public events.
How Clinton described Epstein at the time
In the early 2000s, Clinton spoke about Epstein through his spokesperson. In a 2002 New York Magazine article cited by the BBC, the spokesperson described Epstein as “both a highly successful financier and a committed philanthropist.”
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The comments came during a period when Epstein was still regarded in elite circles as a wealthy donor and political connector.
Clinton’s association with Epstein has drawn particular attention because of travel aboard Epstein’s private jet.
After Epstein was arrested on sex trafficking charges in July 2019, Clinton’s spokesperson said the former president took four flights on Epstein’s jet between 2002 and 2003. According to the BBC, those trips included stops connected to the work of the Clinton Foundation, focusing on democratisation, empowering the poor, citizen service and combating HIV/AIDS in Africa.
The 2019 statement also confirmed a meeting between Clinton and Epstein at Epstein’s Harlem office in 2002, as well as a brief visit to Epstein’s New York apartment around the same time.
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When Clinton says contact ended
Clinton has repeatedly stated that his relationship with Epstein ended long before Epstein faced criminal charges.
In a 2019 statement, Clinton’s spokesperson said the former president had “not spoken to Epstein in well over a decade.”
Writing in his memoir published last year, Clinton said he “had no inkling of the crimes he was committing,” adding that “by the time he was first arrested in 2005, I had stopped contact with him,” the BBC reported.
