By Ben Szalinski
Capitol News Illinois
bszalinski@capitolnewsillinois.com
Governor JB Pritzker denied a since-recanted comment by former president Bill Clinton that Clinton thought the pair may have traveled together on a plane owned by convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
His denial was in response to a 90-second video clip of Clinton’s closed-door deposition before the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that began circulating online Monday.
“No, I have never, had never met Jeffrey Epstein,” Pritzker said Tuesday. “I was never on Jeffrey Epstein’s plane. I was never on any plane with Jeffrey Epstein or with Ghislaine Maxwell. Never met her.”
Pritzker added he had never heard of Epstein until about 2019 when Epstein was indicted for child sex trafficking in the early 2000s.
Clinton’s testimony
In his deposition, the ex-president was asked to recall who he brought on more than two dozen flights he took on Epstein’s plane. He said it was often people who worked with him, for his foundation, including staffers and Secret Service agents, but also the governor of Illinois and his wife.
“On occasion, I had people who had volunteered to help us and wanted to see what we were doing,” Clinton said. “For example, I think it was on one of these trips — I think — that I had my first trip for a man who is now the governor of Illinois, JB Pritzker, and his wife. They gave me — they helped me get started.”
Speaking to reporters March 3 in Chicago, Pritzker said Clinton “clearly was mistaken.”
A spokesperson for Clinton on Tuesday also reframed the president’s comments.
“President Clinton was simply giving an example of the many people he traveled with to see the Clinton Foundation’s work,” spokesperson Angel Ureña said in a statement to Capitol News Illinois. “Gov. Pritzker joined a Clinton Foundation trip in 2008. Not on Epstein’s plane. Not with Epstein. Not with Maxwell.”
Maggie Dougherty contributed.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.