Ghislaine Maxwell’s Nephew Worked on Mideast Policy in Hillary Clinton’s State Department

 

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Ghislaine Maxwell’s nephew, Alexander Djerassi, worked for three years in the State Department during former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s tenure there, according to new reports.

Djerassi worked as a special assistant for the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs from May 2009 to May 2011, according to a profile for him on LinkedIn. He was promoted to chief of staff in the department in May 2011, and served in that capacity until June 2012. The bureau covers the Middle East and North Africa — including Israel, Iran and Libya.

A 2012 attack on the U.S. embassy in Benghazi, Libya’s capital, took place in September of that year, three months after his departure. Djerassi’s profile noted events with which he was involved included the Arab Spring and Israeli-Palestinian relations.

Maxwell was an associate of the late billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, who died last year while incarcerated in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, where he was awaiting trial on charges that he engaged in sex trafficking of minors. Maxwell is presently in the same facility awaiting a July 2021 trial on charges that she assisted him.

The association between Epstein, Maxwell and a prominent figures with whom they were photographed — including Presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton — has long been a subject of public intrigue. The issue entered the news again on Tuesday, when The Daily Mail released photographs of Clinton receiving a massage from Chauntae Davies, one of Epstein’s alleged victims. That incident took place in 2002 as Clinton rode aboard Epstein’s plane for a charitable tour of Africa organized by the Clinton Foundation.

Virginia Giuffre — one of Epstein and Maxwell’s most prominent victims — described seeing Clinton on Epstein’s Caribbean island, Little Saint James, in court documents unsealed this year.

“You know, I remember asking Jeffrey what’s Bill Clinton doing here,” Giuffre reportedly said. She said Epstein responded Clinton “owes me a favor,” but that he “never told me what favors they were.” She added, I didn’t know if he was serious. It was just a joke.”

Djerassi’s employment by the State Department was first reported Thursday by OK Magazinea British tabloid.

The State Department told The Daily Beast that Djerassi was a “staff assistant” from 2009 to 2012, but the Daily Beast did not confirm the tabloid report’s claim that Djerassi was “gifted” the position by Clinton.

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