Since Ghislaine Maxwell’s arrest on charges of helping Jeffrey Epstein abuse underage girls, rumors have swirled about her ties to famous figures including Democratic power couple Bill and Hillary Clinton.
On Tuesday, the Daily Mail published photos of former President Clinton receiving a neck massage from Chauntae Davies, one of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims, during a stopover on his infamous 2002 trip to Africa with the deceased sex-trafficker.
According to Davies, Maxwell was present for the voyage and encouraged Davies to give Clinton the massage. “Would you mind giving it a crack?” Clinton allegedly asked Davies, who claimed he was a “complete gentleman” during the trip.
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The unseemly images were revealed just before Clinton addressed the virtual Democratic National Convention. Davies was 22 at the time, and Clinton has denied any misconduct or knowing of Epstein’s abuse of young women.
Now the celebrity tabloid OK! Magazine is reporting that ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton “gifted” Maxwell’s nephew, Alexander Djerassi, a position within her department when he was just out of college and gave him “special treatment.”
A State Department spokesperson told The Daily Beast that Djerassi served as a “Staff Assistant” from May 2009 to June 2012. The Daily Beast could not confirm whether the role was in fact “gifted” by Clinton.
But a friend of Djerassi told The Daily Beast that Maxwell played no part in introducing Djerassi to Clinton or recommending him for the jobs with the former First Lady.
“These are false allegations against a talented and qualified public servant,” the friend said.
The reports come as Maxwell, 58, awaits trial in a Brooklyn federal lockup for allegedly grooming and trafficking girls for Epstein.
The report also appears to reference Djerassi’s LinkedIn profile, which lists his role as chief of staff for the “Office of the Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs” from May 2011 to June 2012. Djerassi served as special assistant to the office from May 2009 to May 2011, his online profile says.
Djerassi’s name also popped up in a collection of Clinton’s emails hacked via WikiLeaks. In a November 2011 message, Assistant Secretary Jeffrey Feltman referred to his “special assistant, Alex Djerassi.” Feltman mentioned Djerassi again in a January 2012 email, according to WikiLeaks.
Djerassi was also a nonresident associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. A biography on the endowment’s website states Djerassi’s research “focused on Tunisia and U.S. foreign policy toward the Middle East and North Africa.” The bio adds, “From 2009 to 2012, Djerassi was chief of staff and special assistant in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, covering U.S. relations with Arab states, Israel, and Iran. He worked on matters relating to democratization and civil society in the Arab world, the Arab uprisings, and Israeli-Palestinian peace.”
“Djerassi has served as a U.S. representative to the Friends of Libya conferences, Friends of the Syrian People conferences, U.S.-GCC Strategic Coordination Forum, and several UN General Assemblies,” the profile concludes.
The role at the State Department wasn’t the nephew’s only Clinton-related gig.
From September 2007 to June 2008, Djerassi was a policy associate for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. He listed his job duties as such: “Researched and drafted memos, briefings, and policy papers for candidate, senior staff, and news media on wide range of domestic and foreign policy issues. Prepared for more than 20 debates.” (In late 2007, Epstein was under investigation for trafficking girls in Palm Beach and working on a secret plea deal with federal prosecutors. Maxwell is believed to be one accomplice who was protected under the controversial agreement.)
The Yale and Princeton alum—the son of Maxwell’s sister Isabel—apparently returned for Clinton’s 2016 presidential run.
Djerassi lists a job as “national security policy planner” for the “Clinton-Kaine Presidential Transition Team” in 2016.
Maxwell’s and Epstein’s connections to the Clintons have faced greater scrutiny after Epstein was arrested in July 2019 for his years-long child sex trafficking scheme.
As The Daily Beast reported, Epstein visited the Clinton White House multiple times in the '90s, and Maxwell attended Chelsea Clinton’s wedding in 2010.
Meanwhile, several Clinton staffers were listed in Epstein’s Little Black Book, including Cheryl Mills, Mark Middleton, and Doug Band.
Virginia Giuffre, a survivor of Epstein’s abuse, has previously claimed Bill Clinton visited Epstein’s private isle in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Giuffre said Maxwell and someone named Emmy (presumably Maxwell’s former assistant Emmy Tayler) were present for Clinton’s trip, along with a pair of “young girls” from New York. They all allegedly stayed in villas outside the main residence.
The accusations were revealed in a tranche of court records unsealed last month in Giuffre’s now-settled defamation suit against Maxwell.
In a conversation with a lawyer, Giuffre said Epstein told her that he had the former president in his pocket.
“You know, I remember asking Jeffrey what’s Bill Clinton doing here [on the island],” Giuffre told the attorney, according to a transcript of their conversation. She said Epstein laughed off her question and replied, “Well, he owes me a favor.”
“He never told me what favors they were,” Giuffre continued. “I never knew. I didn’t know if he was serious. It was just a joke.”
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story included quotes from OK! Magazine about Djerassi’s work at the State Department. They have been removed from the piece since The Daily Beast could not confirm those details.
