William Jefferson Clinton served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Clinton's connection to Jeffrey Epstein became documented in the archive through a single email thread where Epstein distributed one of his characteristic stream-of-consciousness intellectual musings to a mass recipient list that included Clinton's name, though this appears to have been sent to Epstein's own address rather than Clinton directly. The relationship between Clinton and Epstein, however, is extensively documented in court records, flight logs, and media accounts captured in the archive. Flight manifests from Epstein's private jets show Clinton traveled with Epstein on multiple trips in 2002 and 2003, including a highly publicized humanitarian mission to Africa in September 2002. Clinton's adviser Doug Band appears in numerous emails coordinating with Ghislaine Maxwell regarding Clinton's travel and social engagements. The archive contains no evidence of Clinton visiting Epstein's private island, and depositions indicate Epstein himself denied Clinton ever visited Little St. James.
Background#
William Jefferson Clinton was born August 19, 1946, in Hope, Arkansas, and became the first U.S. president born after World War II. He attended Georgetown University, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, and Yale Law School, where he met Hillary Rodham. Clinton served as Arkansas attorney general (1977-1979) and governor (1979-1981, 1983-1992) before being elected president. His administration oversaw the second longest peacetime economic expansion in American history, though his second term was consumed by the Monica Lewinsky scandal and his subsequent impeachment in 1998, followed by Senate acquittal in 1999.
Clinton's connection to Epstein began in the 1990s. According to a 2002 New York Magazine profile found in the archive, Epstein "flew Bill Clinton, Kevin Spacey, and Chris Tucker to Africa on his private Boeing 727" in September 2002 for humanitarian work. The article quoted Clinton's spokesman: "Jeffrey is both a highly successful financier and a committed philanthropist with a keen sense of global markets and an in-depth knowledge of twenty-first-century science. I especially appreciated his insights and generosity during the recent trip to Africa to work on democratization, empowering the poor, citizen service, and combating HIV/AIDS."
Public reporting indicates Clinton took at least 17 flights on Epstein's aircraft in 2002 and 2003, though Clinton's representatives have consistently stated he had no knowledge of Epstein's crimes and never visited Epstein's private island.
Correspondence with Epstein#
Clinton appears in only a single email thread in the archive: a January 2018 mass distribution where Epstein forwarded one of his characteristic intellectual brainstorming lists to dozens of recipients including "kashoggi," "bunker hunt," "george mitchell," "wayne owens," "prince andrew," "bill richardson," "bill clinton," "hamad bun jasem," "donalad trup," "woody allen," and numerous others. The email contained stream-of-consciousness notes about "membrane computing," "FFT," "harmony," "knots," "matrix algebra," and "face/image recognition". This appears to be Epstein's standard practice of broadcasting intellectual musings to a wide network rather than direct correspondence with Clinton.
No emails from or directly to Clinton appear in the archive. Clinton did not have a documented email address associated with Epstein's communications.
However, Clinton's presence in Epstein's orbit is extensively documented through his aide Doug Band, who maintained an active email relationship with Ghislaine Maxwell throughout the early 2000s. In September 2002, an email regarding an updated plane manifest for Clinton's Africa trip was sent to Maxwell from David Slade, copying Doug Band, indicating coordination of Clinton's travel on Epstein's aircraft.
Connections#
Clinton's primary connection to Epstein in the archive runs through Doug Band, who served as Clinton's counselor and advisor. Band exchanged numerous emails with Ghislaine Maxwell coordinating Clinton-related matters. In an April 2004 email, Band wrote to Maxwell: "It would be good to keep chelsea out of the article should that be possible", suggesting active management of Clinton-Epstein media coverage. In October 2004, Maxwell emailed Band asking if he had "slept with a best selling author - Clinton not withstanding", indicating a familiar social relationship.
Other figures in Epstein's network referenced Clinton. In October 2009, publicist Peggy Siegal emailed Epstein: "Just left Ghislaine's townhouse...after party for film. Bill Clinton and Jeff Bezos were there...Jean Pigoni, director Mira Nair....etc.", documenting Clinton's continued social connection to Maxwell.
In April 2010, an associate forwarded Epstein a Palm Beach Daily News article headlined "Bill Clinton, Naomi Campbell, others flew on Jeffrey Epstein's private jet, lawsuit reveals", as Epstein's legal troubles began attracting media attention.
Physicist Lawrence Krauss jokingly proposed to Epstein in April 2018: "Let's do a men of the world conference. Kevin spacey Bill Clinton =1 franken Woody Allen", grouping Clinton with men facing #MeToo allegations.
In February 2018, Epstein asked attorney Kathryn Ruemmler: "do you think Bill Clinton would like to join you me ehud and steve.? could be very funny, all off the record", suggesting an off-the-record meeting with Clinton, Ehud Barak, and Steve Bannon. Ruemmler replied: "While he might like to, his lawyer would advise him against it. :-)"
Document References#
Clinton appears extensively in court filings from the Giuffre v. Maxwell litigation. Flight logs produced in discovery document Clinton's travel on Epstein's Boeing 727 in November 2003, showing flights from Paris (LFPB) to Brussels (EBBR) to Oslo (ENGM) with passengers listed as "JE, AM, CM, SK, DOL BAND, 4 PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON", then continuing to Helsinki (EFHK), Hong Kong (VHHH), Shanghai (ZUUU), and Beijing (ZBAA) with "PRETER JE,AM, GM, N'S SK, CLENTS/ DB, SSC TO JUSTEN" before returning via Anchorage to JFK.
In Alan Dershowitz's January 2016 deposition, he testified that Clinton and Epstein "went to Africa together on a mission of goodwill" and "maybe went to Asia together as well," based on newspaper accounts. When asked whether Virginia Roberts was lying when she said "Jeffrey Epstein socialized with Bill Clinton during the relevant time period," Dershowitz stated: "My information is that Virginia Roberts was lying when she said that she saw Bill Clinton on Jeffrey Epstein's island. That's all I can comment about with that. And she's lying about that. And she's lying about how Bill Clinton got to the island."
A Daily Mail article exhibit in the Giuffre v. Maxwell case documented that Ghislaine Maxwell was "pictured with Jeffrey Epstein's social fixer at Chelsea's wedding," noting that "Epstein kept 21 numbers for President Clinton in his contacts book, under the name of his adviser Doug Band."
An FBI memo summarizing the Epstein investigation noted internal DOJ emails from March 2020 referencing "the Africa trip with Epstein and President Clinton," with prosecutors distinguishing Clinton's travel from other witness accounts.
Visits to Epstein Properties#
The archive documents no visits by Clinton to Epstein's Little St. James island or other private residences.
Manhattan townhouse: Media accounts captured in the archive reference Clinton socializing at Maxwell's Manhattan townhouse. In October 2009, Peggy Siegal reported attending an after-party at "Ghislaine's townhouse" where "Bill Clinton and Jeff Bezos were there".
Private aircraft: Flight logs show documented travel:
- September 2002 - Africa humanitarian trip with Kevin Spacey and Chris Tucker (New York Magazine article)
- November 4-11, 2003 - European and Asian tour: Paris-Brussels-Oslo-Stockholm-Helsinki-Hong Kong-Shanghai-Beijing-Anchorage-New York (flight logs)
Little St. James island: No visits documented. Dershowitz testified that his information indicated Virginia Roberts was "lying when she said that she saw Bill Clinton on Jeffrey Epstein's island". Clinton's representatives have consistently denied he ever visited the island.
Palm Beach residence: No visits documented in the archive.
New Mexico ranch: No visits documented in the archive.
Paris apartment: Clinton flew through Paris in November 2003 according to flight logs, though no visits to Epstein's Paris residence are documented.