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- Jeffrey Epstein visited the White House several times in the 1990s while Bill Clinton was president, according to a report from the Daily Beast.
- Former president Bill Clinton has sought to distance himself from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who was arrested and charged earlier this month on sex trafficking charges.
- But according to a new investigation by the Daily Beast released Wednesday, Epstein visited the Clinton White House on multiple occasions in the 1990s, and attended a reception hosted by Clinton and first lady Hillary.
- A source also told the Daily Beast that Epstein met with presidential aide Mark Middleton - a special assistant to Clinton's Chief of Staff Mack McClarty - at least three times at the White House.
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Jeffrey Epstein visited the White House multiple times in the 1990s while Bill Clinton was president, according to a new report from the Daily Beast.
According to a new investigation by the Daily Beast released on Wednesday, Epstein - a convicted sex offender who is currently facing fresh charges of sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking - visited the Clinton White House on multiple occasions in the 1990s.
The report says that some of these visits were as early as 1993 during Clinton's first year in office.
Read more: Financier Jeffrey Epstein once flew Bill Clinton and Kevin Spacey to Africa
According to records obtained by the Daily Beast, Epstein donated $10,000 to the White House Historical Association and attended a reception honoring donors, which was hosted by Clinton and first lady Hillary.
According to the documents obtained in the report, Epstein and British heiress Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's alleged madam, were listed as attendees at the evening event, which included an intimate tour of the residence.
Susan Walsh/AP
Hillary and Bill Clinton.
The Daily Beast also reports, citing a source with knowledge of the situation, that Epstein met with presidential aide Mark Middleton - a friend of Clinton's who joined the administration in 1993 as a special assistant to Chief of Staff Mack McClarty - at least three times at the White House.
Middleton left the White House in 1995, and was formally banned from visiting without high-level approval in 1996, after White House officials announced that they had discovered evidence that Middleton flaunted his White House access to impress business clients.
Multiple profiles and reports have recently surfaced suggesting that Clinton and Epstein were friendly in the early 2000s.
Epstein, a self-described "collector" of famous and powerful friends, once flew on his private jet to Africa with Clinton, actor Kevin Spacey, and comedian Chris Tucker to Africa to tour HIV/AIDS project sites, New York Magazine said in 2002, citing Page Six.
In 2002, Clinton referred to Epstein in a New York Magazine profile as a "highly successful financier and a committed philanthropist.
Clinton has sought to distance himself from Epstein, who was arrested and charged earlier this month on charges of sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking. Epstein has pleaded not guilty to those charges.
"President Clinton knows nothing about the terrible crimes Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty to in Florida some years ago, or those with which he has recently been charged in New York," Clinton's spokesperson, Angel Ureña said in a statement to the Daily Beast.
"Any suggestion to the contrary is both factually inaccurate and irresponsible."
The former president, however, has detailed six encounters he had with Epstein over the years - including four trips he took with Epstein on his private jet in 2002 and 2003, and two meetings he had with Epstein in his office and at his Manhattan mansion in 2002 - which all occurred after his presidency.
Epstein pleaded guilty to state charges of soliciting prostitution in 2008 and registered as a sex offender as part of a deal cut with the US Attorney's Office in Miami. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison but only served 13 months in a private wing of the Palm Beach County Jail where he was allowed to work in an office six days per week.
Epstein was arrested earlier this month and charged with sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking. He has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, he faces up to 45 years in prison.