Former President Bill Clinton’s spokesperson issued a forceful statement this week after President Donald Trump directed the Department of Justice to investigate Clinton’s relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The controversy erupted following the House Oversight Committee’s release of thousands of documents from the Epstein estate, sparking renewed scrutiny of Clinton’s past association with the late financier.
Angel Urena, Clinton’s spokesperson, responded with a pointed post on X. “These emails prove Bill Clinton did nothing and knew nothing,” Urena stated. The statement came as Clinton found himself caught between competing narratives about his connection to Epstein, who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
The email release by the House Oversight Committee included correspondence that addressed longstanding speculation about Clinton’s visits to Epstein’s properties. In one notable email, Epstein himself wrote that Clinton never went to his private island, directly contradicting rumors that had circulated for years. The documents represented part of thousands of pages from the estate that lawmakers made public, reigniting debate about the extent of various high-profile figures’ relationships with the disgraced financier.
Adding an unusual twist to the controversy, Jeffrey Epstein’s brother Mark issued an apology to Clinton. The apology came after confusion over an email exchange in which Mark mentioned a reference that many interpreted as Clinton’s longtime nickname. Mark Epstein spoke with NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo to clarify the situation. He explicitly denied that “Bubba” referred to the former president, though he did not specify who the nickname actually referenced.
Mark Epstein said during the interview that he liked Bill Clinton and was sorry for him that he had to go through that situation. He emphasized that the email exchange had been misinterpreted and was never intended for public release. His spokesperson, Ali Clark, further stated that “Bubba” is a private individual who is not a public figure, attempting to put the speculation to rest.
The controversy intensified after Trump posted on Truth Social about the Epstein emails. In his post, he directed Attorney General Pam Bondi and the DOJ to investigate Clinton’s involvement with Epstein, along with several other prominent Democrats and institutions, including Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman, and JP Morgan Chase. Trump characterized the situation as another hoax orchestrated by Democrats, though the emails also contained multiple references to Trump himself and his own relationship with Epstein.
Bondi quickly responded to Trump’s directive, announcing that she had assigned Jay Clayton, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, to lead the investigation. The attorney general pledged the Department would pursue the matter with urgency and integrity. Clayton, described as one of the most capable prosecutors in the country, took charge of what promises to be a high-profile probe into Epstein’s connections to powerful figures in politics and finance.
The released emails also included an exchange between the Epstein brothers that generated significant online attention. In a 2018 email, Mark asked his brother whether certain photos existed, later adding a reference to the movie “Get Hard.” The cryptic message, part of what Mark described as humorous private correspondence between brothers, sparked widespread speculation on social media before his public clarification.
Clinton has long acknowledged flying on Epstein’s private jet multiple times in the early 2000s for Clinton Foundation work, but has consistently denied any knowledge of Epstein’s criminal activities. The former president’s travel on the aircraft, which occurred after he left office, has been documented in flight logs that surfaced during various legal proceedings. None of the records indicate Clinton traveled to Epstein’s private island, a fact that aligns with Epstein’s own written denial in the released emails.
The timing of the email release proved politically charged, coming amid broader congressional debates and efforts by some lawmakers to force complete disclosure of all Epstein-related files. The House Oversight Committee’s decision to make the documents public provided ammunition for both supporters and critics of various political figures mentioned in the correspondence. Trump himself faced questions about emails suggesting he knew about certain activities, though his press secretary dismissed the allegations as proving nothing.
Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon also appeared in the emails, as did references to various other political and business figures from across the ideological spectrum. The breadth of names mentioned in the correspondence underscored the wide social and professional network Epstein cultivated before his arrest and subsequent death. None of the emails released by the committee, however, contained direct evidence of criminal wrongdoing by any of the individuals mentioned beyond Epstein himself.
As the controversy continues, Urena’s statement on behalf of Clinton emphasized that the emails vindicate the former president rather than implicate him. The spokesperson’s assertion that the documents prove Clinton did nothing and knew nothing represents an attempt to definitively close the chapter on speculation about the relationship between the 42nd president and the convicted sex offender. Whether the DOJ investigation ordered by Trump will produce any new revelations remains to be seen as Clayton begins his work in the Southern District of New York.
