Relationship of Bill Clinton and Jeffrey Epstein
, 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. Epstein's interactions with Clinton can be traced to the early 1990s, and concluded in 2003.
Since Epstein's 2019 arrest for sex trafficking of minors and his death in prison shortly thereafter, their former relationship has come under further scrutiny. 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. In 2025, Ghislaine Maxwell claimed Clinton was a friend of hers, not Epstein's, and denied that Clinton was involved in any of Epstein's crimes.
Virginia Giuffre never accused Clinton of sexual misconduct or abuse. While her legal team sought his testimony during her lawsuit against Maxwell, describing him as a "key person" in understanding Maxwell's and Epstein's activities, there was no implication of illegal activity on his part. However, the Epstein-related court files that were unsealed in 2024 included several references to Clinton. In November 2025, the relationship between Clinton and Epstein would be subjected to a federal investigation. The same month, emails from 2011 and 2015 were made public which revealed Epstein personally denying Clinton visited his private island. In January 2026, it was also revealed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had in fact previously investigated allegations against Clinton which were connected to Epstein.
Overview
Since 1994, Bill Clinton has been publicly accused of sexual misconduct, including rape, harassment, and sexual assault. Additionally, some commentators have characterized Clinton's sexual relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky as predatory or non-consensual, despite the fact that Lewinsky called the relationship consensual at the time. These allegations have been revisited and lent more credence in 2018, in light of the #MeToo movement, with many commentators and Democratic leaders now saying Clinton should have been compelled to resign after the Lewinsky scandal.Jeffrey Epstein cultivated an elite social circle and procured many women and children whom he and his associates sexually abused. In addition to his own sexual abuse of the victims, Epstein directed other persons to abuse the girls sexually. Epstein used paid employees to find and bring minor girls to him. Epstein worked in concert with others to obtain minors not only for his own sexual gratification, but also for the sexual gratification of others. His close associate Ghislaine Maxwell was later implicated as procuring or recruiting underage girls in addition to being, for an extended period, Epstein's chief girlfriend.
1990s: White House contacts and early ties
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 Maxwell, attended a donors' reception hosted by President Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton. 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 White House 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.While Clinton was president, Epstein visited the White House at least 17 times between 1993 and 1995. 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.
File:Maxwell Epstein Clinton 1993 2.jpg|thumb|President Clinton hosting Epstein and Maxwell at the White House in 1993
In April 1995, businesswoman Lynn Forester, 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.
2001–2003: post-presidency relationship and flights
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.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. 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. Clinton's spokesman would later state 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.
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. 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". Epstein's New York residence, according to one visitor, contained a signed photograph of Clinton. Epstein possessed an oil painting of Clinton in a blue dress and heels. 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.
This 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. However, in 2003, Clinton would skip a dinner party which Epstein invited him to.
After 2003: diminished contact and Virginia Giuffre lawsuit
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".However, Epstein's close associate Ghislaine Maxwell continued to socialize within Clinton's family circle for some years. Maxwell 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. In 2015, Chelsea became aware of the "horrific" allegations against Maxwell and hoped that Epstein's victims would find justice.
In late 2014 and 2015, Epstein's name resurfaced in headlines due to a civil lawsuit filed by Virginia Giuffre, 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 Saint 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". A December 2, 2020 Vanity Fair article cited former Clinton advisor Doug Band, who stated that Clinton had visited the island in January 2003. A Clinton spokesperson said that Clinton had never been to that island, and provided what they said were the travelogue entries from that period that did not include any mention of such a visit.
A Freedom of Information Act request to the U.S. Secret Service found no evidence that Clinton ever visited Epstein's island. 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. This request was denied by a federal judge, and Clinton was never deposed. Unsealed court documents from Giuffre's lawsuit did list Bill Clinton as an associate of Epstein alongside many other famous figures.
Renewed scrutiny after 2019
On July 6, 2019, Epstein was arrested on federal charges of sex trafficking minors, prompting intense media focus on all his past connections. 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 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 stated that Clinton had not spoken to Epstein since approximately 2002–2003.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 Clinton as a passenger on numerous flights between 2001 and 2003, often related to Clinton Foundation work or paid speaking tours.
In the years following Epstein's 2019 death, scrutiny of Clinton's ties has continued, 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 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. As of mid-2025, Bill Clinton is scheduled to appear before the committee in October.
According to a Wall Street Journal report published in July 2025, Clinton contributed a handwritten note to a birthday greeting album that Maxwell compiled for 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 , and also to have your childlike curiosity, the drive to make a difference and the solace of friends."
In August 2025, however, Maxwell stated to the U.S. Department of Justice that Epstein was only connected to Clinton through her, denied a friendship between them and stated that Clinton had never been to Little Saint James. Maxwell said that she was "sure" that Bill Clinton "absolutely never went" to the island, given that, "I don't believe he had an independent friendship, if you will, with Epstein."
On November 12, 2025, a list of names documented in Epstein's flight logs and personal contact book records was published by The Independent which showed Clinton was listed in Epstein's flight logs. However, Clinton was not among the names listed as being in Epstein's personal contact book. Emails from 2011, including one which involved a private discussion over a stolen telephone book, and 2015 were also released in November 2025 which revealed that Epstein personally denied that Bill Clinton ever visited his island, with Epstein telling someone he identified as "the Duke" 2011 email that “hese stories are complete ant utter fantasy,, I don’t know and have never met Al gore, CLinton was never on the island.. the telephone book is not mine, it was stolen by my houseman that is currently in prison for doing so.”
In December 2025, after photos of Clinton from the Epstein Files were made public, The Guardian stated that Clinton was still not accused of wrongdoing by any survivors of Epstein's sex abuse. A representative for Clinton maintained to People that Clinton did not have knowledge of Epstein's crimes, and also alleged that the release of "20-plus year old photos" was a way for the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, who notably once had a close relationship with Epstein, to try to shield "themselves from what comes next, or from what they'll try and hide forever," further stating that "Even Susie Wiles said Donald Trump was wrong about Bill Clinton." Portions of the Epstein files which were released on January 30, 2026 revealed that the FBI had in fact secretly investigated Epstein-related allegations against Clinton, with some being unverified and described as "not credible." It was also revealed that Epstein was in fact called to testify about his relationship with Clinton during a deposition which took place in September 2016 as part of Virginia Giuffre's lawsuit, to which he invoked the Fifth Amendment.