This story is borders on being gossip but the author, Jessica Reed Kraus of the Substack-House Inhabit claims it is factual and stands ready for any libel suit.
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The Long-Buried Secret of Bill Clinton’s Affair with Ghislaine Maxwell and the Epstein Cover-Up
Jessica Reed Kraus
In my office for an interview, facing a glinting stretch of the Pacific Ocean as muted blue backdrop.
To my right, a dead plant in a wilted state silently judging the stack of tabloid magazines plastered with Jeffrey Epstein’s face. Across from me, a reporter from the country’s most influential newspaper reading aloud past statements of mine, repeated out of context, crafted for a curated readership that often reflects its writer’s shifting moods and temperamental mindset.
“She sounds like she changes her mind often,” I wanted to explain.
But fluid perspectives seemed a foreign concept to my midday guest. And the more I expanded, the less he appeared to grasp what it is I do. Or at least, what it is I seek to do.
Mostly, the legacy newsman was interested in one claim in particular: Did I actually believe Bill Clinton had a sexual relationship with Ghislaine Maxwell?
If so, did I understand the implications of printing such a claim? His question came cushioned by a hypothetical scenario meant to intimidate, but humored me instead: Bill Clinton could take me to court over such a salacious rumor. Did that concern me at all?
No.
Did I believe this rumor?
Yes.
Why?
As someone who works in the business of gossip — which he kindly pointed out I do — it was a rumor with teeth; something I’d heard from all corners of my reach, believed to be true, and therefore worthy of printed theory. Imagining myself facing libel court waged by Bill Clinton, with discovery probing the backlog of his sex life, I found myself silently amused by such an absurd prospect.
Besides, I didn’t birth the rumor. Three years ago I did a deep dive on it.
ll roads lead back to Douglas Band, Bill Clinton’s longtime confidant and founding partner of the multinational advisory firm Teneo, entrenched in “Clintonworld,” serving as Clinton’s body man during his presidency and later as one of the key architects of his post-presidential empire. His contribution to one explosive Vanity Fair article changed everything.
In Confessions of a Clintonworld Exile, a year after Epstein’s death, Band broke the code of silence, exposing a web of secrets simmering beneath the surface of American political life. Central to his revelations: Bill Clinton’s rumored love affair with Ghislaine Maxwell, then modestly known as the daughter of a disgraced media mogul and Jeffrey Epstein’s closest associate.
Band was blunt in print: “I tried for years to keep Epstein at a distance, but Clinton just couldn’t stay away.”
He also revealed Epstein was essentially a cover — an alibi for Clinton’s real reason for spending time in Epstein’s circle: Ghislaine Maxwell. According to unnamed sources, Clinton and Maxwell’s relationship was intimate for years. “Bill and Ghislaine were getting it on,” a close witness said. With Epstein as a convenient alibi, they could ferry Clinton around the world so he could be with Maxwell.
Their relationship extended beyond Caribbean retreats to New York City, where Clinton was repeatedly spotted visiting Maxwell’s $11 million townhouse on East 65th Street. The closeness between him, a former president, and her, a charming but increasingly elusive British socialite, drew occasional notice in New York social circles. Clinton and Maxwell were spotted dining together at the Madison Avenue Italian mainstay Nello, according to a 2002 New York magazine article, which described Maxwell as a “man-eater.” When Clinton went stag to a New York education charity gala in late 2001 —Hillary declined to attend — Maxwell was reportedly at his side.
Chelsea Clinton also grew very close to Ghislaine during this period. Maxwell’s vast network, her assets on generous loan, and her commitment to helping shape the early Clinton Foundation made her invaluable to the family. Because of what she provided for them, Band insisted Maxwell at a certain point was “more valuable” to the Clintons than Epstein: “You couldn’t hang out with her without being with him.”
Internally, a mounting feud between Doug Band and Chelsea Clinton contributed to the impending fallout.
Initially, Band wasn’t threatened by Chelsea’s new role. Separated by seven years, they “related to each other almost like half siblings.” When Chelsea was in her 20s, Band helped get her concert tickets and restaurant reservations. In 2010, Chelsea sent Band an effusive Christmas card. “I love you and am thankful beyond words for all you have done and do for my father,” she wrote.
But, as Vanity Fair noted, in every family, rivalries and jealousies tend to fester. Clintonworld sources revealed how Chelsea grew to resent Band. “Chelsea hated Doug because he was like a son to her father,” a Clinton friend said. Band took offense that Chelsea treated him at times like hired help.
Over the next several months, their conflict unfolded with Bill Clinton caught in the middle. Chelsea heard from foundation officials that Band was “hustling” donors to become Teneo clients behind Bill’s back. In turn, Band heard that she had accused him of planting a Page Six item about troubles in her marriage, which he denied. Meanwhile, Band told foundation staff that Chelsea was vastly underqualified to take on a leadership role.
Band, however, made it clear that Chelsea’s ongoing ties to Epstein were a central source of tension in his relationship with Bill. He saw it as a doomed course. Even in social context.
Warning signs had been apparent for years. The infamous 2002 trip to Africa aboard Epstein’s private Boeing 727 — the so-called “Lolita Express” — marked a turning point. Band recalled Epstein “bragging the entire trip, like he invented the derivatives market,” an absurd display of ego that masked a far more dangerous intent. Though Band said he “had no idea about Epstein’s sex crimes back then,” he admitted getting enough bad vibes to advise Clinton to end the relationship.
Clinton ignored the warnings, continuing to socialize with Epstein and taking more than two dozen trips on Epstein’s jet. Flight logs show a 2003 visit by Clinton to Epstein’s private Caribbean island, Little St. James — a trip Band refused to join.
In 2006, Epstein donated $25,000 to the Clinton Foundation. Band lamented, “Clinton continued to socialize with Epstein and take his money.”
His remarks stunned the Clintons.
“Bill must have done something very, very bad — worse than his usual self-dealing and pathological deceit — for Band, a surrogate son, to lash out like this,” the New York Post noted.
VF added: “Those critics include the Clintons themselves, who offered a caustic assessment of Band when asked for comment. ‘No staffer has ever used their role to serve their interests as much as Doug Band,’ a Clinton family spokesperson told me. ‘For many years he was a valuable member of President Clinton’s team and supportive of Clinton Foundation programs. Until he wasn’t. He put the foundation at risk by leveraging a world-class philanthropy for his own financial gain. It’s as disappointing a story as it is a sad one and ultimately why Doug Band and the Clintons parted ways.’”
Chelsea Clinton, meanwhile, maintained a long friendship with Maxwell even after Epstein’s crimes became public. She invited Maxwell to her 2010 wedding at the Brooke Astor estate in Rhinebeck, New York, which Band deemed “a grab at high-society lifestyle.”
Maxwell had failed to appear at a scheduled deposition, claiming she had to return to England to care for her dying mother. However, at the time of that trip, the elder Mrs. Maxwell was not gravely ill.
Around the same time the deposition was scheduled, Maxwell was spotted in New York. She surfaced in a photo as a guest in the background at Chelsea Clinton’s wedding accompanied by Ted Waitt.
“I knew in telling everyone to stop including Ghislaine that Chelsea and her father would be very angry,” he said. “It made it harder for them to justify being close to her.”
Despite repeated denials from Clinton spokespeople, Band insisted these ties were real and consequential. Maxwell remained a constant presence at Clinton social events and Epstein-fueled trips.
Band lamented, “Clinton continued to socialize with Epstein and take his money.” Flight logs and eyewitness reports painted a picture of sustained closeness.
(It’s also worth noting that top Clinton advisor Mark Middleton, the man behind the liaison that connected Epstein to Clinton, died by suicide at the age of 59 on May 7, 2022, the Perry County Sheriff’s Office in Arkansas confirmed. Another rabbit hole to dig into another time.)
Adding another crucial layer to the coverup which might explain why the affair remained mostly untraceable via Google search: the private emails stolen from John Podesta, Hillary Clinton’s campaign chair, and published by WikiLeaks. These emails contain several references to Google and its parent company Alphabet’s executive chairman, Eric Schmidt.
The emails reveal a relationship with Schmidt dating back to at least 2008 and show that Google loaned its jet to members of Clinton’s campaign staff on several occasions. According to a February 2015 email to Podesta from Tina Flournoy, Bill Clinton’s chief of staff, Google planned to lend its company jet for a trip to Africa. Podesta wrote, “FYI. They are donating the Google plane for the Africa trip.”
Post Epstein, Clinton remained frequently on flight with Maxwell. “Bill was always into Ghislaine,” is what everyone has always told me. Several sources relived stories of Bill at events they were part of, as friend to Ghislaine. One source remembers Bill being a “great time” at parties hosted at Maxwell’s townhouse in New York. The source described a scene: him taking tequila shots surrounded by fawning women, and Maxwell watching him like a hawk from an opposite corner of the room.
A source I spoke to recounted Maxwell frequently flying to retrieve Bill during the Ted Waitt years. Familiar with the Waitt family when he was dating Ghislaine, they claimed she once flew Clinton to a particular destination for an operation “of some kind.” However, details were shaky as the source was the same age as one of Waitt’s teenage daughters— too young to care why the former president was on board, interpreting route to a family vacation.
Clinton, Maxwell, and Waitt remained close after Maxwell moved on from Epstein. Bill and Ted wrote each other letters Ghislaine sometimes kept on display. The Clintons remain close to the Waitt family today.
Shortly after Maxwell was sentenced, they continued to vacation with the Waitt family, even flying overseas to celebrate Ted Waitt’s 60th birthday.
Knowing how it all unfolded, the fact that Clinton is now named a “prime suspect” in the files investigation feels straight out of a Shakespearean script. The Clintons used Maxwell for everything she could offer when it suited them, and the moment she became a liability, they dropped her. They distanced themselves, severing all ties to avoid her sins tainting their power, profit, and reputation.
As the story is shifting, the Epstein ordeal is dissolving any sense of ease for certain parties — the Clintons included — who have, until now, escaped scrutiny by association.
Ghislaine’s turn against Clinton, as ex lover, reads as retaliation, repurposed as leverage to secure a presidential pardon.
In her only prison interview, she dropped subtle hints, using praise as insinuation. Cues media collectively overlooked.
Sentiments I Picked Up on And Shared Line by Line in Bold Font:
“Bill Clinton was a very special friend to me.”
“We were close over a long period of time.”
“I was close to both of the Clintons.”
“I helped set up their foundations.”
“He was one of the most interesting people I’ve ever met.”
“I HOSTED PARTIES FOR THEM.”
When Ghislaine added that her falling out with Bill was due to her support for Trump, again, everyone failed to recognize the foreshadowing.
Even in skirted reference, the chemistry between them was instantly obvious to anyone reading between the lines. His name as frequent guest on the flight logs laid it out. There was no way Clinton was traveling regularly in the company of Epstein and Maxwell without engaging on an intimate level with a woman like her. Sources said she played this circle of men — Prince Andrew, Epstein, and Clinton — strategically. While Epstein and she had fallen out of a romantic relationship, he was still prone to jealousy over her flirtations with powerhouse players like Clinton, and she played it to her advantage.
Anyone versed in Maxwell’s tastes would deduce that Clinton was an obvious conquest from the onset — as is overwhelmingly apparent in the photos documenting their introduction, where she looks like she wants to devour him. He was everything she was drawn to: immensely charismatic, articulate, intelligent, cultured, powerful, not to mention rich and hyper sexual, and said to appreciate the affection of older women because his ego preferred his intellect flattered.
Nick Tartaglione mentioned in one conversation Epstein noting Clinton’s penchant for older women. He said they made fun of him for seducing gray-haired ladies whenever they appeared.
Based on trial insight, one might assume that Bill Clinton met his sexual match in Ghislaine Maxwell.
As of now, Bill Clinton is scheduled to testify before the committee on October 14, 2025, under subpoena.
What we learn from here on out is bound to undress decades of lies and protective coverups the Clintons had come to count on, when Maxwell as ex flame and dutiful aid to their endeavors was where it served them best: silent, behind bars.
