Another Clinton, another scandal. Doug Band, a former aide to Bill Clinton for nearly two decades, revealed a trove of well-kept secrets about the former president’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, the late billionaire convicted of sex crimes.
“I prefer to remain invisible,” Band said in an interview with Vanity Fair.
But, over the past year, he opened up about his years spent in Clinton’s inner circle. “It may come off as hostile or angry, but it’s just the raw truth and facts of what transpired. I think that’s important for people to understand.”
During his tumultuous relationship with the Clinton family, Band had tried to push Epstein out of Clinton’s orbit – ever since their 2002 trip to Africa aboard Epstein’s private jet, dubbed the ‘Lolita Express.’
Despite his team several times denying it, Band said Clinton did, in fact, visit Epstein’s private island – known as “Pedophile Island.”
“In January 2003, according to Band, Clinton visited Epstein’s private Caribbean island, Little St. James,” Vanity Fair wrote in an article. “Band said it was one of the few trips he declined to go on in his time with Clinton. A Clinton spokesperson said the president had never been to the island and provided detailed travelogue entries of the period in question that did not contain a visit.”
But, Bill wasn’t the only Clinton involved with Epstein and his cast of characters.
Band revealed that Chelsea Clinton has ties to Ghislaine Maxwell, commonly referred to as Epstein’s “pimp.”
“Chelsea had ties to Epstein and Maxwell, Band said; he showed me a photo of Bill and Chelsea posing with Epstein and Maxwell at the King of Morocco’s wedding. Chelsea remained friends with Maxwell for years after the press revealed Maxwell was a close associate of Epstein’s. For instance, Chelsea invited Maxwell to her 2010 wedding at the Broke Astor estate in Rhinebeck, New York, after Epstein had pleaded guilty in Florida to procuring sex from a minor.”
Investigative reporter Tara Palmeri responded to the Vanity Fair feature saying she also has sources who confirm that Bill Clinton was on the island.
“Sources told me that Ghislaine Maxwell flew Clinton in her helicopter to ‘Little St. Jeff’s’ with secret service en tow,” she tweeted. “Also, @vsrvirginia has long said she saw Clinton on #epstein’s island but wasn’t trafficked to him.”
Sources told me that Ghislaine Maxwell flew Clinton in her helicopter to “Little St. Jeff’s” with secret service en tow. Also, @vrsvirginia has long said she saw Clinton on #epstein’s island but wasn’t trafficked to him. https://t.co/whHPmfgtnE
— Tara Palmeri (@tarapalmeri) December 2, 2020
The tweet referenced Virginia Giuffre, who was allegedly recruited by Maxwell – as a teenager – to be Epstein’s sexual servant. In unsealed court documents, she said that she saw Clinton on the island with “two young girls.”
Despite Band’s severed ties with the Clinton family, he said: “I will always be enormously grateful for the opportunity to serve, have great respect for his impact on the world and have enormous personal affinity towards him.”
But, the years apart gave Band clarity.
“It’s like a cult, that world,” he said. “It’s hard to get yourself out and difficult to see outside of it,” he added. “And it’s even harder to understand that when you’re inside.”
