Pritzker Denies Flying On Epstein Plane With Bill Clinton

Following remarks made by Bill Clinton Monday suggesting the former president had flown with Gov. JB Pritzker on a plane belonging to Jeffrey Epstein, the governor, as well as spokespeople for both Democrats, are denying it ever occurred.

"President Clinton was clearly mistaken and he corrected the mistake to his credit," Pritzker said Tuesday while taking questions from reporters following a press conference with Cook County Health. "No, I have never met Jeffrey Epstein. I was never on Jeffrey Epstein's plane. I was never on any plane with Jeffrey Epstein, or with Ghislaine Maxwell."

Clinton, who was giving testimony in a closed-door session with the House and Oversight Committee regarding his relationship with the convicted sex offender, was asked about flying on Epstein's private plane in the early 2000s.

"I had the Secret Service with me, and then, 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 the man who's now the governor of Illinois, JB Pritzker, and his wife. They gave me — they helped me get started. All a matter of public record."

The committee made up of Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives, never followed up on the remark about Clinton during the nearly five-hour back-and-forth session, held at the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center in New York. Clinton's testimony followed that of his wife, Hillary Clinton.

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Pritzker also refered to President Donald Trump's relationship with Epstein and Maxwell, saying he had never met either of them.

"But you know who did, you know who palled around with both of them, Donald Trump did," Pritzker said. "Donald Trump is known to have spent a lot of time with both of them. Yet, he has still not owned up to it. He still has not been held accountable for that."

Alex Gough, communications director for Pritzker's gubernatorial campaign and the governor's former press secretary, shared a statement with Patch regarding Clinton's comments.

"Governor Pritzker was asked to travel with President Clinton on two trips, once in 2008 and once in 2013. Neither utilized Jeffrey Epstein's aircraft, nor was he accompanied by that man or Ghislaine Maxwell," Gough said. "We understand that the GOP is desperate to deflect from the heinous accusations against President Trump in the Epstein Files, but this is a particularly weak effort to assign blame where there is none."

Pritzker said the flight with Clinton in 2008 was on a plane provided by Google.

Angel Urena, deputy chief of staff for Clinton, also attempted to clarify what the former president meant on X, specifically in response to a post by the Republican National Committee saying the former president had brought Pritzker on "pedophile Jeffrey Epstein's plane."

"President Clinton was simply giving an example of the many people he traveled with to see the Clinton Foundation's work. Governor Pritzker joined a Clinton Foundation trip in 2008," Urena said. "Not on Epstein's plane. Not with Epstein. Not with Maxwell."

The Chicago Tribune is reporting Clinton's last flight on Epstein's aircraft was in 2003 when he was accompanied by Epstein and Maxwell on a trip related to the Clinton Foundation. The media outlet cited testimony and flight logs.