Photos of Bill Clinton included in newly released Epstein files
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton It featured prominently in the first set of files released by the Ministry of Justice on Friday as part of its investigation into convicts. sex offender Jeffrey EpsteinAs the White House tries to shift the focus of the highly anticipated documents away from President Donald Trump.
Among the thousands of documents made public were several photographs of Clinton. Some showed him on a private plane; one of them was with a woman whose face had been removed from the photo, sitting on his lap. Another photo shows him at the pool with a British socialite who is a longtime confidant of Epstein Ghislaine Maxwelland a person whose face is also corrected.
In another photo, Clinton is seen in a jacuzzi with a woman whose face has been corrected. The files do not say when the photos were taken and have little context surrounding them.
Clinton’s dealings with Epstein and Maxwell in the late 1990s and early 2000s are well documented, and the images released Friday are just a fraction of the “several hundred thousand” documents that Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said are connected to the investigation. But the footage could complicate Democrats’ efforts to keep Trump tied to the Epstein files; It’s an issue that resonates strongly with Trump’s base, despite the president’s efforts to encourage his supporters to move on.
After the photos were published, many White House officials, including press secretary Karoline Leavitt and top aide Steven Cheung, shared posts highlighting the photos on social media. Trump did not talk about the issue as he left the White House for a speech late Friday. North Carolina.
Clinton spokesman Angel Ureña said in a statement that the Epstein investigation “is not about Bill Clinton.”
“There are two types of people here,” he said. “The first group knew nothing and blocked Epstein’s way before his crimes were discovered. The second group continued their relationship thereafter. We are in the first group. No amount of stalling by the people in the second group will change that.”
Clinton was never accused of wrongdoing by any of Epstein’s known victims.
Long before the Justice Department released case files on Jeffrey Epstein that included many photos of Clinton, Republicans had focused on the former president and his relationship with the wealthy financier.
Republicans on the House Oversight Committee had subpoenaed both Bill and Hillary Clinton for testimony earlier this year, but received a response that the Clintons wanted a written statement about how little they knew about Epstein.
Rep. James Comer, the committee’s Republican chairman, demanded that they appear in person to testify and threatened to initiate a contempt of Congressional proceedings if they did not do so.
Numerous former presidents have voluntarily testified before Congress, but none have been forced to do so.
While Clinton was president, Epstein visited the White House multiple times, according to visitor records. Epstein helped with some of the former president’s philanthropic efforts after he left office. Clinton flew on Epstein’s private jet several times, including on a humanitarian trip to Africa with actors Kevin Spacey and Chris Tucker in 2002.
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Associated Press writer Stephen Groves in Washington contributed to this report
