Former President Bill Clinton commended Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted child sex trafficker, for his “childlike curiosity” in a birthday letter.
“It’s reassuring isn’t it, to have lasted as long, across all the years of learning and knowing, adventures and [illegible word], and also to have your childlike curiosity, the drive to make a difference and the solace of friends,” Clinton wrote to Epstein in 2003, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
The Journal reported last week that a letter from President Donald Trump was also included in the book, alongside a sketch of a naked woman. Trump has called the letter a “FAKE” and filed a libel lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal last week over an article highlighting the attribution.
“The Wall Street Journal, and Rupert Murdoch, personally, were warned directly by President Donald J. Trump that the supposed letter they printed by President Trump to Epstein was a FAKE and, if they print it, they will be sued,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
The initial report did not mention the other influential figures whose messages to Epstein were included in a leather-bound album of birthday messages compiled for Epstein by his former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, and a team of assistants. Maxwell led the effort to collect dozens of messages from Epstein’s friends and acquaintances for his 50th birthday, the Journal reported.
Clinton was a frequent flier on Epstein’s private plane, the “Lolita Express.” Flight manifests show that the former president traveled on the plane with Epstein at least six times, two of those trips without accompanying Secret Service agents.
Some of the better-known contributors to the birthday book include billionaire Leon Black, fashion designer Vera Wang, media owner Mort Zuckerman, former Victoria’s Secret leader Leslie Wexner, attorney Alan Dershowitz, and British politician Peter Mandelson.
Clinton, Trump, and 20 others were listed as “Friends” in the book’s table of contents. Other labels included “Business,” “Science,” “Brooklyn,” and “Family.”
Of the contributors included in the book at the time, Clinton is the most prominent. At the time of the book’s assembly, Clinton was just two years removed from the Oval Office.
Epstein died in a jail cell in 2019. Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence after being convicted in 2021 on charges related to Epstein’s sex trafficking.