Newly released Justice Department documents reveal that Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime companion of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, played a substantial and previously underreported role in supporting the creation of the Clinton Global Initiative, one of former President Bill Clinton’s most prominent post-White House projects.
According to emails contained in the government’s investigative files on Epstein, Maxwell was deeply involved in planning the inaugural Clinton Global Initiative conference. The records show that she participated in budget discussions, worked through logistical challenges with Clinton aides and the event’s producer, Publicis Groupe, and arranged the transfer of $1 million to pay Publicis for its work on what was described in emails as “the Clinton project.”
The source of the $1 million remains unclear, including whether Epstein himself provided the funds. However, the emails indicate that Epstein was aware of the payment and questioned its timing and destination. In one message sent to Maxwell shortly after she received wiring instructions from Publicis, Epstein wrote, “Ask him to tell you why i million now and where will it be going.”
Maxwell’s involvement dates back to 2004, well before Epstein’s 2006 indictment and 2008 guilty plea on prostitution-related charges, and years before Maxwell was sentenced in 2022 to 20 years in prison for conspiring with Epstein to sexually exploit underage girls. The documents support claims Maxwell made in a Justice Department interview last year that she played a key role in helping establish the global conference.
The Clinton camp has long maintained distance from Epstein. Former President Clinton has said he stopped speaking with Epstein sometime before the 2006 indictment. Angel Ureña, a spokesman for the Clintons, said the former president has called for the full release of the Epstein files and insisted he “has nothing to hide.” Ureña stated that Clinton knew nothing about Epstein’s crimes and ended contact once it became clear Epstein had no genuine interest in philanthropic work.
Still, the newly released material adds detail to longstanding questions about the overlap between the Clinton and Epstein circles. The emails reinforce prior reporting that Clinton and his aides had a more enduring relationship with Maxwell than with Epstein himself. Beyond her role in the Clinton Global Initiative, the records show flirtatious email exchanges in the early 2000s between Maxwell and Doug Band, who was then Clinton’s top aide.
Maxwell was also known to have attended Chelsea Clinton’s 2010 wedding and remained within Clinton-associated circles even after allegations related to Epstein’s abuse became public. Maxwell told the Justice Department that she last saw Clinton sometime between 2016 and 2018, when they had dinner together in Los Angeles. In that same interview, she said, “President Clinton was my friend, not Epstein’s friend.”
A review by The New York Times found little new information tying Hillary Clinton to Epstein and limited new material about Bill Clinton’s direct interactions with him. Publicly released logs have previously shown that Epstein visited the White House during the Clinton administration and that Clinton took four international trips on Epstein’s private jet in 2002 and 2003. Clinton has said he never visited Epstein’s private island, a claim supported by emails and statements from the Secret Service.
House Republicans have continued to press the issue, seeking testimony from the Clintons as part of a House Oversight Committee investigation. Those depositions are scheduled for later this month. The documents underscore why questions about judgment, associations, and accountability surrounding powerful institutions and elite networks continue to persist years after the Epstein scandal first came to light.
