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Fact check: did donald trump and bill clinton have sex
Executive summary
Available reporting shows renewed attention to Jeffrey Epstein’s contacts with many powerful people and that President Donald Trump has asked the Justice Department to probe Epstein’s ties to former President Bill Clinton; none of the current articles say Clinton was ever charged with sexual crimes related to Epstein, and some reporting notes Clinton flew on Epstein’s plane at least 26 times for Clinton Foundation work [1] [2]. The newly released troves of Epstein-related emails and documents mention both Trump and Clinton but do not, in the cited coverage, establish that either man definitively had sex with the specific accusers central to the Epstein scandal [3] [4].
1. What the recent reporting actually says: probe requests and document releases
News outlets report that President Trump publicly requested the Justice Department and FBI investigate Jeffrey Epstein’s relationships with Bill Clinton and others after the House Oversight Committee released large collections of Epstein-related emails and documents; Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed a prosecutor to handle that request [5] [1] [6]. The coverage emphasizes that this move is politically charged — portrayed by some as an attempt by Trump to redirect scrutiny onto Democrats amid revelations that also involve his own name [7] [8].
2. What the documents and reporting show about Clinton’s interactions with Epstein
Multiple outlets say Bill Clinton socialized with Epstein in the early 2000s and that flight logs and foundation work link Clinton to Epstein’s private plane — reporting from EL PAÍS cites “at least 26” flights tied to Clinton’s Clinton Foundation work [2]. Reporting also notes Clinton has denied knowledge of Epstein’s crimes and that he has not been accused of wrongdoing in the Epstein scandal [7] [1].
3. What the documents and reporting show about Trump’s interactions with Epstein
News pieces summarize emails in which Epstein criticized Trump and suggested Trump “knew about the girls,” and the new troves include references to Trump in Epstein’s materials; Reuters and NBC describe emails and statements from Epstein that touch on Trump’s relationship with him, but do not present court convictions linking Trump to the sex-trafficking crimes for which Epstein was charged [9] [3]. Several outlets frame the disclosures as fueling political fighting rather than providing definitive criminal proof about either man [5] [8].
4. Do the sources say Trump and Clinton had sex with victims linked to Epstein?
The cited reporting does not assert that either Donald Trump or Bill Clinton was charged or convicted for having sex with Epstein’s victims. Reuters, the BBC and others explicitly note Clinton was never accused of wrongdoing even though he socialized with Epstein, and the coverage says questions about who did what persist without presenting legal findings against Clinton or Trump [9] [1] [7]. NBC’s summary of released emails likewise reports Epstein’s written comments but does not present prosecutable evidence that Trump or Clinton committed the sexual offenses alleged against Epstein’s network [3] [4].
5. Conflicting signals, political uses, and limitations of the documents
Reporting across outlets highlights that the release of documents and Trump’s directive to investigators are being used politically: critics say Trump is trying to deflect from his own ties to Epstein, while proponents present the move as seeking accountability for others mentioned in the files [7] [5] [8]. The documents (emails, flight logs, a birthday book) can show association and travel but do not, on their face as reported, establish criminal sexual conduct by named public figures; that distinction is central in current coverage [4] [2].
6. What remains unknown or not covered in current reporting
Available sources do not mention criminal charges or judicial findings that either Donald Trump or Bill Clinton had sex with Epstein’s known victims; they do not provide court-admitted evidence proving such acts by either man [7] [3]. Sources do not settle disputed interpretations of ambiguous notes or entries in Epstein’s materials; in several cases, Clinton’s spokespeople or deputies deny knowledge or wrongdoing [9] [1]. If you are seeking definitive legal proof about sexual acts, current reporting in these articles does not provide it [3] [4].
7. Bottom line for readers seeking a fact-check
The documented facts in these sources: Epstein associated with many powerful people, both Trump and Clinton appear in Epstein-related documents and emails, Clinton flew on Epstein’s plane and has denied wrongdoing, and Trump has asked the DOJ to investigate Clinton’s ties [2] [1] [5]. However, the cited coverage does not provide evidence or reporting that either Trump or Clinton was criminally implicated by prosecutors for having sex with Epstein’s victims — that specific claim is not supported by the articles in this set [7] [3].