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The Pimp and the President in the WH: Epstein 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.Epstein donated a total of $20,000 in 1999 to a joint fundraising committee supporting Hillary Clinton's 2000 Senate campaign and the Democratic Party.

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.[11] 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.

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.

Epstein’s close associate Ghislaine Maxwell (pictured above in WH) 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 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 said she hoped that Epstein’s victims would find justice.