Earlier this year, Ghislaine Maxwell revealed a previously unreported detail about former President Bill Clinton’s interactions with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.According to testimony transcripts released by the Justice Department, Maxwell told U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche that she does not believe Clinton ever received a massage while aboard Epstein’s private jet.
The DOJ released the transcript of Maxwell’s two-day interview with Blanche on Friday. During the discussion, Blanche asked whether Clinton had ever been given a massage, The Daily Caller reported.
“I don’t believe he did,” Maxwell responded. When pressed on why she thought so, she explained: “That’s a good question. From what I recall, the only time President Clinton and Epstein spent significant time together was during travel—specifically on the plane, which they used multiple times, maybe around 26 flights. I don’t think any massages happened on the plane. And that would’ve been the only opportunity for something like that to occur. It didn’t happen, because I was there.”
Photos from September 2002, however, appear to show Clinton receiving a shoulder massage from Chauntae Davies, an Epstein accuser, during a humanitarian trip to Africa on Epstein’s plane. Another accuser, Virginia Giuffre, told an attorney that Clinton had visited Epstein’s private island, though she did not accuse him of criminal behavior.
Clinton has denied knowing about Epstein’s crimes. A spokesperson said in July 2019 that Clinton was unaware of “the terrible crimes” linked to Epstein and reiterated that he never visited Epstein’s island.
Maxwell also discussed her involvement with the Clinton Global Initiative.
Blanche asked whether she played a role in launching the Clinton Global Initiative, which the organization describes as a gathering place for global leaders and prominent figures in philanthropy, business, and government, according to Fox News.
“I was,” Maxwell replied. “I would say I was very central to that.” She added that Epstein was “very enthusiastic” about her participation.
“[Epstein] supported me in helping them, but I think he may have tried to use that relationship to insert himself somehow. That wouldn’t have surprised me,” she said. “He could be irritating. I’d catch him on the phone disagreeing with me, and I’d remind him it wasn’t his idea and that I didn’t care what he thought. He didn’t like that.”
Maxwell said she traveled to Davos with Clinton at least once and insisted Clinton never visited Epstein’s private island. She said she first met Clinton at a White House event and later became friendly with him through former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine.
“Once for sure, maybe twice—I’m not certain,” she said about her Davos trips with Clinton. She stressed that Clinton was her friend, “not Epstein’s friend.”
She also recalled meeting former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton once on a flight—possibly from Nantucket or Martha’s Vineyard to New York—and said she attended Chelsea Clinton’s wedding with a former boyfriend. Epstein, she noted, did not attend.
In a statement, Maxwell’s attorney David Oscar Markus defended her cooperation with investigators.
“Ghislaine Maxwell is innocent and should never have been tried, let alone convicted,” Markus said. “The newly released DOJ materials make this clear. Ms. Maxwell answered every question. She didn’t refuse or evade anything.”
