I want to start this out by saying that I think Bill Clinton was a pretty good president. He moved to the center and dragged his party along with him. He worked with Newt Gingrich and Republicans through the Contract With America. He balanced the budget. He did welfare reform and welfare-to-work. He signed “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.” He signed NAFTA. He signed the Defense of Marriage Act. He was a free-wheeling capitalist, making big pro-business moves like signing the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which repealed the Glass-Steagall Act, which had been around since the Depression. He loosened housing rules by rewriting the Community Reinvestment Act, which put added pressure on banks to lend in low-income neighborhoods. He also signed the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, which exempted credit-default swaps from regulation. Under these policies, coupled with the tech boom, business soared in America. Wages grew, the wage gap shrank. Ah, the 1990s. (Now, some would argue the pendulum swung too far and all that stuff, coupled with 9/11, helped create the ensuing economic meltdown, but that’s a different column.) The bottom line is, President Clinton governed from the center, which, generally, provides the most benefit for the average American. He was an adept politician and a highly capable leader. He had a penchant for bringing people from across the political spectrum together and getting things done. Now, if only he could apply that level of discipline to his personal life. Earlier this week, I read a piece in the Washington Post online and an Associated Press story. Seems President Clinton was buddies with this billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein. Ten years ago, the FBI launched an investigation into Epstein’s escapades. He was suspected of sexually abusing dozens of underage girls at his Palm Beach mansion. But the investigation was suddenly dropped and Epstein pleaded guilty to a single state charge of soliciting prostitution. He agreed to an 18-month sentence and served 13 months. It was a pretty good deal, because Epstein was facing scores of years behind bars if the multiple federal charges would have stuck. After that, President Clinton stopped hanging around with Epstein. Prince Andrew, the Duke of York and other well-known celebs and pols palled around with Epstein as well. In fact, the prince was named in a federal lawsuit. The $50 million suit was filed in 2008 in the Southern District of Florida. It claims Epstein had a “sexual preference and obsession for underage minor girls … gained access to primarily economically disadvantaged minor girls in his home (and) sexually assaulted these girls.” One girl claimed she had been “sexually exploited by (Epstein’s) male peers, including royalty, politicians, academics, businessmen and other professional or personal acquaintances.” Prince Andrew repeatedly has denied he had any sexual contact with any girls at Epstein’s properties. Fast forward to last week. Two women who say they were among Epstein’s victims have won a precedent-setting appeals court ruling. The ruling entitles them to see all the documents from the plea bargain discussions leading to the 2008 deal between Epstein’s high-powered lawyers and federal prosecutors. Oddly, those documents were sealed following the plea deal negotiations. The women want to use those files to undo the plea bargain, reopen the investigation and get more charges filed against Epstein. The women’s lawyers claim Epstein got special treatment because of his wealth and connections. Well, duh. According to the AP, “Our complaint alleges that, prodded by Epstein, the federal prosecutors deliberately concealed the sweetheart plea deal they made with him to avoid public criticism,” said Paul Cassell, a University of Utah law professor who is representing the two women. Depositions in that case should be interesting. And as part of an ongoing lawsuit between Epstein and a couple of his former lawyers, a pile of court records found their way into the hands of reporters in places like thesmokingun.com The lawsuit claims: • Epstein had “regular” orgies at his Caribbean compound on a private island. • Flight records show Clinton made multiple trips to Epstein’s island, between 2002 and 2005. • Underage girls were reportedly kept at the island. • President Clinton apparently was friends with a woman who “kept images of naked underage children on her computer (and) helped to recruit underage children for Epstein ...” • While President Clinton cut ties with Epstein after his 2008 arrest, the woman was one of 400 people invited to Chelsea Clinton’s wedding in 2010. • Epstein’s computerized phone directory included “email addresses for Clinton along with 21 phone numbers for him, including those for his assistant.” Now, I am not naive. I know how these things work. I know that many times lawsuits like these can be overbaked and just plain sensational garbage. And nothing in any of the lawsuits claims President Clinton did anything illegal. But flight logs? Wedding guests? Twenty-one phone numbers? A private island with underage girls? Why would you immerse yourself in that world if you were a former president? There is a fair chance the former president might be deposed as part of this train wreck of lawsuits. Seriously? You need that level of embarrassment in your life? I guess so, because just last month President Clinton was at a fundraiser in Los Angeles posing with a couple of known prostitutes from the Bunny Brothel in Nevada. Cute girls. That photo is making the rounds on social media. All this while his wife is contemplating a run for the White House. If Hillary has a rolling pin, Bill better learn to duck. Hey, President Clinton. C’mon man, stick to politics for cryin’ out loud. You’re really good at that.
