Former President Bill Clinton press secretary Joe Lockhart denied Jeffrey Epstein was good friends with the Clintons during an appearance on Tuesday morning. The denial comes as Epstein, the well-connected billionaire, was arrested and is facing new charges for child sex trafficking.
“On the Clinton matter, I stay in touch with the Foundation, and I know, you know, to clear up the trips versus the flights, I think the number was 26 or 27. Each of these trips, and I have been on many of these trips where you go to Asia or you go to Africa, and each flight is counted. So each trip will be six or seven different flights. I know most of the Clinton circle. Jeffrey Epstein’s not part of it. I’ve never met the guy,” Lockhart said.
“I’ve met most of the president’s friends, but all of this should come out,” he said.
Lockhart then turned his attention to Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta, who was part of the federal prosecutor team that made a deal with Epstein that resulted in him avoiding 10 years of jail for similar charges.
“No one questions Alex Acosta’s judgment in letting this guy go through. It’s all about, well, will this look bad on the president, and I don’t think someone like Acosta would ever have been nominated by another president, if they had done vetting, but certainly wouldn’t have lasted this long,” he said.
In a statement released by his current press secretary on Monday, Clinton claimed to know “nothing about the terrible crimes” Epstein is charged with.
“In 2002 and 2003, President Clinton took a total of four trips on Jeffrey Epstein’s airplane: One to Europe, one to Asia, and two to Africa, which included stops in connection with the work of the Clinton Foundation. Staff, supporters of the Foundation, and his Secret Service detail traveled on every leg of every trip,” the statement explained.
“He’s not spoken to Epstein in well over a decade, and has never been to Little St. James Island, Epstein’s ranch in New Mexico, or his residence in Florida,” it added.
