A longtime aide to Bill Clinton has walked back a claim that the former president visited Jeffrey Epstein’s island, according to sources familiar with closed-door testimony on Capitol Hill. Doug Band, the former Clinton aide, is the 17th person to testify behind closed doors as part of the House Oversight Committee’s probe into Epstein’s orbit and how previous investigations were handled.

Background

In 2020, Band told Vanity Fair that Clinton visited Epstein’s private island in 2003. However, in February, Clinton testified that he was never on Epstein’s island. On Tuesday, Band amended his previous assertion during his own interview with the panel, stating he had no evidence that Clinton went to Epstein’s island and doesn’t remember why he told Vanity Fair that he did.

House Oversight Chair James Comer told reporters that Band’s comments to Vanity Fair would be a topic of questioning. The Justice Department’s release of Epstein case files offered fresh insight into how Band communicated with Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s accomplice.

In one email, Band appears to tell Maxwell that he shared an email account with Clinton. However, in Clinton’s deposition with the panel, the former president could recall only ever sending two emails in his life and added that he didn’t send emails on the account mentioned by Band.

Original reporting: El Paso News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.