Bill Clinton praised Epstein's ‘childlike curiosity' in birthday message
The former US president wrote a paragraph for a leather-bound album compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell for Epstein's 50th birthday, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Maxwell, Epstein's former girlfriend, was keen for Mr Clinton and other significant figures to submit letters, people involved in assembling the album told the newspaper.
Mr Clinton is reported to have written: 'It's reassuring isn't it, to have lasted as long, across all the years of learning and knowing, adventures and [illegible], and also to have your childlike curiosity, the drive to make a difference and the solace of friends.'
A spokesman for the former president declined to comment on the birthday message to The Wall Street Journal.
He referred the newspaper to a previous statement which affirmed that Mr Clinton ended the relationship more than a decade before Epstein was arrested in 2019 on sex trafficking charges, and did not know about the paedophile's alleged crimes.
Donald Trump is also said to have sent a birthday letter for the album in which he wrote that he and Epstein had 'certain things in common', adding: 'Enigmas never age.'
Mr Trump denied writing or sending the note, and has sued the newspaper for defamation over its report.
Mr Trump's name appears in the album for Epstein as a contributor, The New York Times reported on Thursday night.
His alleged note, said to feature a drawing of a nude woman in permanent marker, is reportedly one of dozens of names of Epstein acquaintances who were asked to provide something for the album.
Mr Trump also reportedly wrote an admiring message for Epstein in his book, Trump: Art of the Comeback.
'To Jeff - You are the greatest!' the inscription, which is dated Oct 1997, is said to read.
Steven Cheung, a White House spokesman, said in a statement that Mr Trump had banned Mr Epstein from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida for 'being a creep'.
'This is nothing more than a continuation of the fake news stories concocted by Democrats and the liberal media,' he added.
Clintons subpoenaed
An ally of Mr Trump's in Congress has organised a vote to subpoena both Mr Clinton and his wife, former New York senator and first lady Hillary Clinton, about their connection with Epstein.
In 2002, Mr Clinton and Epstein spent nine days on a trip to Africa, flying out on the financier's private jet, known as the 'Lolita Express'.
'I had always thought Epstein was odd but had no inkling of the crimes he was committing,' the Democrat wrote in his 2024 memoir, Citizen: My Life after the White House.
Mr Trump is frantically trying to turn the political narrative away from his friendship with the paedophile, who killed himself in prison in 2019.
The president knew Epstein for 15 years until the early 2000s. He is under increasing pressure from his base to release any files the government holds on Epstein.
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