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Ghislaine Maxwell says Bill Clinton was not on Epstein's island but did fly on private jet

'Absolutely 1,000 per cent that is a flat out total fabrication and lie'

Justin Vallejo
New York
Thursday 22 October 2020 22:19 BST
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Ghislaine Maxwell pleads not guilty to recruiting girls for Jeffrey Epstein

Ghislaine Maxwell said Bill Clinton never visited Jeffrey Epstein's island but did fly on his private jet as the British socialite was grilled on the ex-president's relationship to the convicted paedophile, revealed in newly-released documents.

In the heavily-redacted 2016 deposition, Ms Maxwell says rape accuser Virginia Giuffre is "1,000 per cent" lying about Mr Clinton visiting the Caribbean island.

Ms Giuffre said in a deposition, unsealed in July, that Mr Clinton had visited Little Saint James and that Mr Epstein laughed away his presence by saying "he owes me a favour".

Court documents detailing Ms Maxwell's relationship with Epstein relating to a now-settled civil defamation lawsuit brought by Ms Giuffre were unsealed and made public on Thursday.

Ms Maxwell, who fought to keep the transcript from four years ago a secret, has denied allegations she helped Epstein, her boyfriend, abuse and groom underage girls in illegal sex acts in the mid-1990s. 

"Again, Virginia is absolutely, totally lying," Ms Maxwell said.

"This is a subject of defamation about Virginia and the lies she has told and one of the lies she told was that President Clinton was on the island where I was present. Absolutely 1,000 per cent that is a flat out total fabrication and lie."  

While names were redacted in initial questioning, Mr Clinton's identity was revealed after Ms Maxwell named him in her responses to deny he had ever been on the island.

She did confirm that Mr Clinton had flown on Mr Epstein's private plane, but would not be drawn into commenting on the nature or extent of their relationship.

In one key exchange, the questioner asks: "You did fly on planes, Jeffrey Epstein's planes with president Clinton, is that correct?"

"I have flown, yes," Ms Maxwell said.

When asked if they were friends, acquaintances, or if Mr Epstein just allowed Mr Clinton to use the plane, Ms Maxwell said she "wouldn't be able to categorise" them as friends and "couldn't categorise" the relationship, and didn't recall if they seemed friendly.

The wedding of Chelsea Clinton was also raised during the seven-hour deposition as part of a 2015 civil case that accused Ms Maxwell and Epstein of underage sex trafficking.

Ms Maxwell said she was not deposed in an earlier case in 2009 as she was caring for her ill mother, before returning to the US for Ms Clinton's wedding.

"I attended [redacted] wedding but I don't know if I came back specifically for that or not," Ms Maxwell said, a reference to the Clinton wedding, according to Insider.

Mr Clinton, through a spokesman, has previously denied Ms Giuffre’s allegations that he visited the island. In a statement to Newsweek in July, Angel Ureña said the former president has "never been to Little St James Island."

"He'd not spoken to Epstein in well over a decade," Mr Urena said. "Well before his terrible crimes came to light."

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