The first tranche of documents released by the Justice Department from its investigations into Jeffrey Epstein appeared to focus significantly on material connected to former President Bill Clinton, at a moment when Republicans have fought to shift public attention away from Mr. Epstein’s friendship with President Trump.
The dozens of photos released on Friday include one of Mr. Clinton in a hot tub and another showing Mr. Clinton swimming in a pool with Ghislaine Maxwell, who conspired with Mr. Epstein to operate his sex trafficking operation and former girlfriend, along with a second woman. Another shows a woman seated closely with Mr. Clinton on what appears to be an airplane. There are also what appear to be a candid shot of Mr. Clinton speaking with Mr. Epstein and pictures of him with the musician Mick Jagger.
The images and documents have been released without context or background information. It is unclear which photographs might have been taken by Mr. Epstein and which might have been sent to or acquired by him, or where many of them were taken. Justice Department officials have not said how they selected the particular tranche of documents that were released on Friday.
Mr. Clinton is one of the few people whose faces were not redacted, along with Mr. Epstein himself Ms. Maxwell. In posts on X after the release, a White House spokeswoman repeatedly pointed out photos of Mr. Clinton and argued that the news media did not want to focus on the images.
In recent weeks, Mr. Trump has worked to deflect public scrutiny of his own close friendship with Mr. Epstein, a convicted sex offender, ordering his appointees in to begin an investigation into Mr. Clinton and other prominent Democrats who were associated with him. Republicans on the House Oversight Committee are also seeking to force Mr. Clinton and his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, to give in-person depositions in their own investigation. On social media, Mr. Trump has claimed without evidence that Mr. Clinton and other Democrats spent “spent large portions of their life with Epstein, and on his ‘Island.’”
But Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, has contradicted those assertions. In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Ms. Wiles said that Mr. Trump was not telling the truth in accusing Mr. Clinton of visiting the private island. Ms. Maxwell, in her interview this summer with Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, also undercut Mr. Trump’s efforts to blame Mr. Clinton. In the wide-ranging interview, Ms. Maxwell said Mr. Clinton was her friend, not Mr. Epstein’s.
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Angel Urena, a spokesman for Mr. Clinton, did not immediately respond to requests for comment but has previously said Mr. Clinton cut ties with Mr. Epstein years before Mr. Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor, and that he was unaware of his wrongdoing.
None of Mr. Epstein’s victims have made any public allegations of wrongdoing against Mr. Clinton.
Mr. Clinton’s ties to Mr. Epstein are relatively well known. The former president took four international trips with Mr. Epstein on the financier’s private jet in 2002 and 2003, including a humanitarian trip to Africa that brought Mr. Epstein his first significant publicity. Roughly 80 photos in one document are marked “Clinton, Africa, London,” and appear to include shots taken during the humanitarian trip, when Mr. Clinton’s entourage included the actors Kevin Spacey and Chris Tucker.
Mr. Clinton also flew on Mr. Epstein’s private plane in February 2002, from Miami to Westchester County, N.Y., and in March 2002, from New York City to London, according to flight manifests released by the Justice Department on Friday.
But Mr. Clinton has said he did not visit Little St. James, the island that Mr. Epstein owned and where many of his abuses are alleged to have occurred.
Mr. Clinton visited Mr. Epstein’s New York apartment once around 2002, according to his representatives, but he has said he never visited Mr. Epstein’s palatial residence in Palm Beach, Fla. or the financier’s ranch in New Mexico.
In 1993, after Mr. Clinton was sworn in as the 42nd president, Mr. Epstein visited the White House in February, the first of many trips to the Clinton White House. He also became a donor, giving $10,000 to help refurbish the White House.
By 1995, Mr. Clinton and Mr. Epstein were friendly enough for Mr. Clinton to write a get-well note to Mr. Epstein’s mother who was sick. “Hang in there,” Mr. Clinton scrawled on a yellow Post-it, which was reviewed by The New York Times. Mr. Epstein saved the note.
Nicholas Confessore is New York-based political and investigative reporter for The Times and a staff writer at the Times Magazine, covering power and influence in Washington, tech, media and beyond. He can be reached at nicholas.confessore@nytimes.com.
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