Questions were swirling after former President Bill Clinton mentioned Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker during a House Oversight Committee hearing over the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, but the governor says he never met the disgraced financier.
Clinton was subpoenaed by the committee to testify about his relationship with Epstein, who was facing sex trafficking charges in 2019 before dying by suicide.
During his testimony, Clinton mentioned Pritzker while discussing travel associated with his Clinton Foundation.
“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,” he said.
Republicans took to the offensive after the comment, with former State Senator and current Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey calling for an independent probe over whether Pritzker knew or traveled with Epstein.
A Clinton aide released a statement shortly after the hearing emphasizing that Pritzker did not travel with Epstein, nor did he ever use his plane.
“President Clinton was simply giving an example of the many people he traveled with to see the Clinton Foundation’s work,” spokesperson Angel Ureña posted on X. “Governor Pritzker joined a Clinton Foundation trip in 2008. Not on Epstein’s plane. Not with Epstein. Not with (Ghislaine) Maxwell.”
Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., spoke after former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s deposition related to the Epstein files.
Pritzker’s name does not appear in flight logs for Epstein’s plane that have been made public during the ongoing revelation of documents related to the investigation, according to reporting by NBC 5 Chicago.
Pritzker was asked about the testimony on Tuesday at an unrelated event.
“President Clinton clearly was mistaken and he corrected the mistake,” he said. “I had never even heard of Jeffrey Epstein until the scandal that broke out in 2019.”
Pritzker also criticized Bailey and other Republicans for trying to tie him to Epstein, arguing that they’re trying to distract the public from the reported ties between Epstein and President Donald Trump.
“The Republicans are trying. It’s ‘wag the dog.’ It’s ‘let’s look over here, don’t look at the leader of their party,’” he said.
Pritzker took two trips with Clinton as part of the former president’s foundation work, including one to Rwanda in which Pritzker is seen in the background of a photo of Clinton.
“I was on that trip to learn more and look at areas where I had or could support the healthcare systems in those countries,” he said.
Pritzker has been a long-time friend of the Clintons, and was one of the chairs of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Pritzker’s cousin Thomas Pritzker recently announced he was stepping down as Hyatt Hotel’s Executive Chair after the Epstein files showed he was in regular contact with Epstein.
Amid the conversation about the Epstein investigation, a group of lawmakers in Illinois have introduced legislation to create a commission investigating residents who are linked to crimes Epstein was accused of. Illinois State Reps. Abdelnasser Rashid and Anne Stava, as well as State Sen. Graciela Guzman, signed onto the legislation.
