Epstein documents don't prove Hillary Clinton visited Epstein Island | Fact check

Hannah Hudnall, USA TODAY
·3 min read
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The claim: Epstein documents and Anthony Weiner laptop prove Hillary Clinton visited Epstein Island 6 times

A Jan. 5 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows pictures of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the late disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein beside a screenshot of a document.

"Hillary Clinton has been named as a witness in Jeffrey Epstein court documents," reads the on-screen text. "NYPD found evidence on Anthony Weiner's laptop that she went to Epstein's island at least 6 times."

The caption connects the claim to documents released Jan. 5.

The post garnered more than 20,000 likes in a week. Similar versions of the claim were shared on Instagram.

Fact check roundup: What's true and false about Jeffrey Epstein and the individuals on his list

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Our rating: False

The Epstein documents unsealed in January don't contain any proof that Clinton visited the island. She was listed as a possible witness, not accused of any wrongdoing. The emails found on former New York Rep. Anthony Weiner's laptop are unrelated and were unsealed back in 2017.

No proof Hillary Clinton visited 'Epstein Island'

Clinton was mentioned in a batch of unsealed Epstein documents released on Jan. 5 alongside numerous other figures, including her husband, Bill Clinton, and Prince Andrew.

But this isn't proof that she visited Little St. James in the U.S. Virgin Islands, also known as "Epstein Island."

The documents show that she and 12 others were listed as possible witnesses in Virginia Giuffre's lawsuit against Epstein's former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell. But Hillary Clinton has not been accused of wrongdoing, and no connection between her and Epstein has been established.

Among those mentioned in the documents are friends, associates, victims and opponents of Epstein, with many only having tangential connections to him.

Hillary Clinton's name didn't appear in the flight logs for Epstein's private jet that were released in 2019, and though her name also appears several times in the Epstein documents released on Jan. 8 there is no mention of her visiting the island.

Fact check: No mention of California Rep. Adam Schiff in Epstein documents

The post's claim that the New York Police Department found evidence of her purported visits to Esptein's island on Weiner's laptop is also nonsense.

In 2017, the U.S. State Department released thousands of emails from Weiner's personal laptop, including several emails from Hillary Clinton's aide Huma Abedin that contained classified information.

Though some segments of the emails were redacted, none were reported to contain information about Epstein or Little St. James Island. Instead, the emails focused on talks with foreign leaders, such as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal.

The New York Police Department hasn't announced any recent updates regarding the laptop or the emails, and there haven't been any credible reports about Hillary Clinton visiting the island.

USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: No proof Hillary Clinton visited Epstein Island | Fact check