Newly released Justice Department records tied to deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein shed further light on the involvement of his longtime associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, in initiatives connected to former President Bill Clinton — even as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said she encountered Maxwell only “on a few occasions.”
The latest batch of documents indicates that Maxwell played a notable part in activities surrounding the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), a flagship project launched by Bill Clinton after leaving the White House. Hillary Clinton recently stated that she had met Maxwell “on a few occasions,” a remark seen as an effort to distance herself from Maxwell and Epstein. Bill Clinton’s name, meanwhile, appears repeatedly in the Epstein-related files.
In a Justice Department interview last year, Maxwell described her involvement in establishing CGI as “very central.” She also said Epstein participated in the early effort.
Breitbart News reports that according to the released materials, Maxwell was involved in budget planning for CGI’s inaugural conference, communicated with Clinton aides, and coordinated with Publicis Groupe, the firm that produced the first CGI event. Records show Maxwell arranged for a $1 million wire transfer to compensate Publicis for its work on what was referred to as the “Clinton project.” The New York Times reported that it remains unclear where the funds originated and whether Epstein supplied the money.
“Ask him to tell you why i million now and where will it be going,” Epstein wrote to Maxwell after she received wiring instructions from Publicis. The Times provided additional background:
“Ms. Maxwell’s involvement in the launch of the Clinton Global Initiative took place in 2004, before Mr. Epstein’s 2006 indictment and 2008 guilty plea for solicitation of prostitution with a minor, and long before Ms. Maxwell, a daughter of the media baron Robert Maxwell, was sentenced in 2022 to two decades in prison for conspiring with Mr. Epstein to sexually exploit underage girls…
The emails support an assertion Ms. Maxwell made last year in an interview with the Justice Department that she played a key role in helping set up the global conference.”
CGI was envisioned as a philanthropic counterpart to the annual World Economic Forum gathering in Davos, Switzerland.
A spokesperson for the Clintons, Angel Ureña, said former President Clinton ended contact with Epstein before his 2006 indictment. “He knew nothing about Epstein’s crimes,” Ureña said. “When it became clear Epstein had no genuine interest in lifesaving philanthropic work, there was no reason for further contact. The facts are the facts and the truth is the truth, and they’re both on our side.”
The Times also noted that Maxwell was “already known” to have attended Chelsea Clinton’s 2010 wedding alongside her then-boyfriend, Ted Waitt, a technology entrepreneur and donor to the Clinton Foundation.
In her Justice Department interview, Maxwell stated, “President Clinton was my friend, not Epstein’s friend.”
