Jeffrey Epstein's 'fixer' Ghislaine Maxwell introduced him to Bill Clinton and was 'incredibly close' to former first daughter Chelsea
New York: Former US president Bill Clinton was introduced to convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein via British heiress Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime pal of the billionaire financier, who reportedly also became friends with former first daughter Chelsea Clinton.
According to a new report by Politico, Clinton's family became close with Maxwell in early 2001, shortly after Clinton left office.
Speaking to the outlet, a friend of Maxwell claimed the Clintons were "relatively intimate with her."
While another anonymous insider described Maxwell as “the contact between Epstein and Clinton.”
“She ended up being close to the family because she and Chelsea ended up becoming close,” the source added.
The report stated that Maxwell was spotted vacationing on a yacht with Chelsea back in 2009, and even attended her wedding to Marc Mezvinsky the following year.
Ghislaine, the daughter of late publishing tycoon Robert Maxwell, was also closely associated with the Clinton Global Initiative as recently as 2013. At the time, the organization promoted a “commitment to action” by a group that also included the TerrarMar Project, Maxwell’s environmental nonprofit. However, she shuttered the project as soon as Epstein was arrested earlier this month.
These events notably took place after Epstein’s 2008 conviction in Florida on two prostitution-related charges, of which one involved a minor.
On July 6, the hedge fund honcho was busted on child sex-trafficking charges. Last week, he was ordered held without bail pending trial and has pleaded not guilty to all counts.
Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein's alleged victims, sued Maxwell in 2015 for denying her claim that she had recruited her to be sexually abused by Epstein at age 15 when she was working at Mar-a-Lago as a towel girl. That suit was settled on undisclosed terms during the trial last year, Page Six reported
Politico further learned from the aforementioned source that while Maxwell was "incredibly close” to Chelsea, “She had her own relationship with Bill Clinton and was very close to him.”
Furthermore, Fox News reported that Clinton took at least 26 trips on Epstein’s Boeing 727 between 2001 and 2003, per flight records.
The Daily Beast reported that The C.O.U.Q Foundation -- a charity formerly run by Epstein -- donated $25,000 donation to the Clinton Foundation, per its 2006 IRS filing.
The Clintons have meanwhile disassociated themselves from the disgraced financier.
“President Clinton knows nothing about the terrible crimes Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty to in Florida some years ago, or those with which he has been recently charged in New York,” Bill Clinton’s spokesman, Angel Urena, said in a recent statement.
Bari Lurie, Chelsea Clinton’s chief of staff, told Politico that "it wasn’t until 2015 that Chelsea and Marc became aware of the horrific allegations against Ghislaine Maxwell and hope that all the victims find justice.”
“Chelsea and Marc were friendly with her because of her relationship with a dear friend of theirs. When that relationship ended, Chelsea and Marc’s friendship with her ended as well,” Lurie added.
That "dear friend" was suggested by the outlet to be Ted Waitt, who was previously romantically linked with Maxwell and who made a fortune founding computer hardware firm Gateway Inc., the New York Post reports.