With contempt vote looming, here’s what Epstein documents say about the Clintons
By Jeremy Herb, Em Steck, Annie Grayer, CNN
(CNN) — The Justice Department’s latest release of the Epstein files offers fresh insights into how former President Bill Clinton’s staff communicated with Jeffrey Epstein and his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell, including sometimes-lewd email exchanges.
The document dump comes just days before an expected House contempt vote against the Clintons after they rebuffed a subpoena to testify in a bipartisan probe into Epstein.
The Republican-led House is expected to vote this week to hold both Bill and Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress for failing to testify. House Oversight Republicans and even some Democrats voted in committee last month to hold the former president and secretary of state in contempt.
Friday’s release of the Epstein files – more than 3 million documents – follows a smaller, earlier batch in December that revealed never-before-seen photos of Bill Clinton and Epstein together and a shirtless Clinton in a hot tub with someone a DOJ official described as a “victim” of Epstein’s sexual abuse.
The latest files include frequent communications between Maxwell — who is currently in prison for sex trafficking — and Clinton staffers between 2001 and 2004. It was during this period that Bill Clinton travelled with his staffers on Epstein’s private plane at least 16 times according to a CNN analysis.
Also among the newly released files is a list of sexual abuse accusations against President Donald Trump from unverified tips that the Justice Department compiled last summer. That list also references allegations against Bill Clinton.
Both men have denied any wrongdoing related to Epstein. Asked for comment on the allegations against Trump in the documents, the White House referred to a Justice Department statement that “this production may include fake or falsely submitted images, documents or videos.”
A spokesperson for Clinton has repeatedly said the former president cut ties with Epstein before the disgraced financier was charged with soliciting prostitution in 2006 and didn’t know about his crimes. Clinton has also denied ever having visited Epstein’s island.
Clinton and Trump are among numerous high-profile names included in the Epstein files released by the Justice Department. After Trump’s DOJ balked at releasing the files, Congress passed a law last year mandating their disclosure. Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while in prison awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
Maxwell’s emails
The names of the Clinton staffers in the emails are often redacted – showing only “WJC” in the email recipient or sender line, which appears to refer to William J. Clinton’s office post-presidency.
Clinton spokesman Angel Ureña told CNN that Bill Clinton did not send any of the emails in the Epstein files.
“I can’t confirm whose it was, I can only tell you whose it wasn’t: Bill Clinton’s,” Ureña said. “I’d say he has never emailed but in truth he has done so twice in his life, both as President. Once to former astronaut and Senator John Glenn while he was orbiting the Earth aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery, and another to the US troops serving in the Adriatic.”
Ureña also said Clinton “neither had nor shared a device or account or address with anyone.”
Much of the communications between Maxwell and Clinton’s staff reviewed by CNN pertain to travel and dining logistics, and sometimes last-minute invites to the former president himself. It’s unclear whether the communications were related to the business of the foundation or personal dealings of Clinton or his staff.
In one email from April 2003, Maxwell wrote to a redacted Clinton office mail address: “Glad you are coming to the dinner – JE says do you think CLinton would like to come – let me know.”
In another email from December 2001, a Clinton staffer asked Maxwell for Prince Andrew’s phone number to coordinate a golf outing during a trip by Bill Clinton to Scotland. Maxwell replied, “Just spoke to Andrew. He is not currently in Scotland but is going to m. He says if I give him a no. he will ring Clinton. Doug, do you want him to call you ?”
It’s unclear who “Doug” refers to but a top Clinton adviser at the time was Doug Band. CNN has reached out to Band for comment.
Maxwell was sometimes flirtatious in her emails to redacted Clinton office email addresses. In one exchange, Maxwell wrote to a Clinton staffer that she told a tabloid what “supper stud you are and how I have a crush on you and how you are hung like a horse and- well you get the picture. Hope you don’t mind!”
In another 2002 exchange, a person whose name is redacted wrote to Maxwell from a Clinton email address: “Went home with someone I have before, a 40 year old blonde big boobby widow if you can believe that. I really need to stop drinking.”
There’s no evidence in the files that Maxwell personally emailed the former president and vice versa. In one email where the sender name is unredacted, Band said that he and Clinton shared a Blackberry account.
Nearly a decade later, after Maxwell was publicly accused of recruiting and sexually abusing girls with Epstein in 2009, she was still welcome in Clinton circles.
As CNN’s KFile previously reported, Maxwell was a guest at the prestigious Clinton Global Initiative conference in September 2013. Maxwell was honored for her now-defunct TerraMar Project, an ocean conservation non-profit she founded in 2012 that did more to restore her reputation than the ocean floors.
Contempt of Congress
At the same time that the Justice Department and Epstein’s estate have released documents showing Clinton’s interactions with Epstein, Republicans in the House have clashed with the Clintons’ camp for months over testifying as part of their probe.
While the panel waived in-person appearances for seven others who were subpoenaed as part of its ongoing investigation, House Oversight Chair James Comer insisted that the Clintons appear in person for closed-door interviews.
The Republican repeatedly argued that the former president had specific information relevant to the investigation because Epstein visited the White House and Bill Clinton flew on his private plane.
Attorneys representing the Clintons repeatedly asserted in letters that they were being unfairly singled out and called the panel’s subpoenas for their testimony “invalid and legally unenforceable.”
The Clintons’ counsel sought a last-minute off-ramp and offered to make the former president available for an interview with Comer, Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the panel and some staff in New York “on areas within the scope” of the panel’s Epstein probe.
Comer rejected the offer, however, and asserted that the Clintons were trying to get special treatment. When negotiations fell apart, neither Clinton appeared for their scheduled in-person depositions.
When the committee moved to hold the Clintons in contempt, it wasn’t just Republicans who backed it: Nearly half of the Democrats on the committee also voted to advance the contempt to the House floor, arguing that their votes were intended to protect the power of a congressional subpoena.
The committee vote rankled top Democrats, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who argued that the Clintons were still negotiating with Congress and suggested no proceedings should move forward against the Clintons until after the Justice Department has released all of the Epstein investigative files.
A successful contempt vote by the GOP-controlled House would be symbolic — as a rebuke to the Clintons — but also could be used as a tool to compel them to testify. It could have legal consequences, too, as the matter would be referred to the Justice Department for potential prosecution if the House approves it.
There’s still the possibility for a deal before the House votes. Last week, Comer suggested to reporters “there is an opportunity” for the two sides to reach an agreement.
The-CNN-Wire
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