Photo by Stian Roenning
Audio By Carbonatix
Back in 2015, the now-defunct news and gossip blog Gawker published New York financier and convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s notorious “little black book.”
The heavily redacted address book contained hundreds of names and phone numbers for a wide range of celebrities and high-profile figures, from actors Alec Baldwin and Ralph Fiennes to Prince Andrew, Alan Dershowitz, and former President Bill Clinton. It also, quite notably, featured 13 different numbers for former Miami Beach mayor Philip Levine.
A longtime pal of Clinton, one of the most powerful figures ensnared in the Epstein scandal, Levine was listed in the book alongside a handful of phone numbers with 305 area codes, including those for his office, home, two housekeepers, and at least one driver.
At the time, Levine denied ever having a “friendship or business relationship” with Epstein.
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“Think I met him possibly only two or three times, but briefly maybe over 15 years ago at events. Don’t remember ever giving him my full contact info but possibly did give him my contact card,” Levine told New Times in August 2019, just days after Epstein died by suicide in a Manhattan jail. “[W]hen I read [the book], I was also surprised. I truly just don’t know.”
But while there’s no evidence Levine — like many others named in Epstein’s address book — had any involvement in the financier’s crimes, newly surfaced testimony suggests his proximity to Epstein’s inner circle ran deeper than previously known.
Photo by Stian Roenning / screenshot via Gawker
In a July 24 interview with the U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein’s co-conspirator and longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell referred to the former Miami Beach mayor as her “very good friend,” and said she met Clinton after he left the White House in 2001 and later became friendly with him through Philip Levine.
“I was actually introduced to the President post his coming out of the White House and became friendly with him, because of Philip Levine,” Maxwell told deputy attorney general Todd Blanche during the interview.
“Because of what?” her attorney, David Markus, asked.
She clarified: “Philip Levine.”
In response to a New Times inquiry about his role in introducing Maxwell to the former president, Levine wrote in a text message: “That is not accurate as I told you already in a previous text.” (In that text, Levine said that he “never” introduced Maxwell to the former president and denied even knowing Clinton during “this time period.”)
“This is simply untrue,” Levine continued. “This is public information and easily attainable. I have tried being helpful but based on my personal knowledge, unfortunately there is nothing I could contribute to further your efforts.” He followed up with links to a Wikipedia page documenting Epstein’s relationship with Clinton, citing early-1990s events where Maxwell, Clinton, and Epstein were all present.
“The precise nature of our relationship was that of a friend to my wife and I, nothing more and nothing less,” he wrote, regarding Maxwell calling him a “very good friend.”
He married in 2018, while the relationship he referenced would have occurred years earlier. New Times asked Levine to clarify, but did not receive a response.
Epstein sexually abused children hundreds of times over more than a decade, exploiting girls as young as 14. Prosecutors said he couldn’t have done so without the help of Maxwell, his ex-girlfriend and longtime companion.
Maxwell was convicted in 2021 of sex-trafficking and other offenses connected to her facilitation and participation in Epstein’s actions. In 2022, she was sentenced to 20 years in prison for helping Epstein sexually abuse underage girls.
Though Clinton has never been directly accused of taking part in Epstein’s crimes, and he’s long denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein, questions about his connection to Epstein have swirled for more than a decade, particularly because of the former president’s own (and separate) rape accusations. Clinton was known to have traveled with Epstein in the years after he left office in 2001 and flown repeatedly on his private jet, which had been nicknamed the “Lolita Express” and was allegedly used by Epstein to sexually assault underage girls.
Clinton, Maxwell, and Epstein notably appear together in one of more than a dozen photos from Epstein’s estate recently released by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee. The photo (shown below) appears to be signed by Clinton.
Photo by House Oversight Committee
During the July interview, Maxwell testified that Clinton never visited Epstein’s private island estate and had no independent relationship with him outside of the trips the ex-president took on Epstein’s plane in the early 2000s.
“President Clinton was my friend, not Epstein’s friend,” Maxwell told Blanche. “President Clinton liked me, and we got along terribly well. But I never saw that warmth with Mr. Epstein.”
During the interview, Maxwell also said she was “very central” to the startup of the Clinton Global Initiative, an annual conference that has been hosted by the Clinton Foundation since 2005.
“You were part of the ramp up or the startup of the Clinton Global Initiative?” Blanche asked.
“I was, I would say, very central to that, yes,” Maxwell replied.
This is a breaking story and will be updated as events warrant.
