New York Post - USA (2020-12-03)

New York Post, Thursday, December 3, 2020

nypost.com

DAmneD!

grating, Band orchestrated a campaign
to bar Maxwell from all events sur-
rounding the family.
“I knew in telling everyone to stop in-
cluding Ghislaine that Chelsea and her
father would be very angry,” he said. “It
made it harder for them to justify being
close to her.”
Speaking out at length in Vanity Fair
for the first time since parting from
Clinton in 2012, Band described Clin-

tonworld as “like a cult.”

“It’s hard to get yourself out and diffi-

cult to see outside of it. And it’s even

harder to understand that when you’re

inside,” he told the magazine.

In pushing back against the article in

its entirety, the Clinton family charac-

terized Band as a bitter ex-staffer who

exploited his relationship.

“No staffer has ever used their role to

serve their interests as much as Doug

Band,” the family’s statement read. “For

many years he was a valuable member

of President Clinton’s team and sup-

portive of Clinton Foundation pro-

grams. Until he wasn’t. He put the foun-

dation at risk by leveraging a world-

class philanthropy for his own financial

gain. It’s as disappointing a story as it is

a sad one and ultimately why Doug

Band and the Clintons parted ways.”

[email protected]

Former President Bill Clin-

ton may have seen his wife’s

Oval Office ambitions as a

threat.

Longtime Bubba confidant

Doug Band dished to Vanity

Fair about Clinton’s “erratic”

behavior on the 2008 pri-

mary campaign trail — say-

ing he thinks several out-

bursts were caused by a de-

sire for Hillary to lose.

“He was used to it being all

about him, and if she won, it

would be all about her,” Band

said.

Bill’s outbursts while he

campaigned for Hillary were

so notable that top Demo-

cratic officials asked him to

tone it down.

Some commentators had

even accused him of “playing

the race card” with his at-

tacks on then-candidate Bar-

ack Obama.

At the time, Band attrib-

uted his mentor’s conduct to

the lingering effects of Bill’s

2004 heart attack — and a

deep dislike of Hillary’s op-

ponent, saying, “Obama

drove him nuts.”

Looking back, Band thinks

Bill could have been dab-

bling in sabotage, con-

sciously or unconsciously, so

his wife wouldn’t win.

“In her White House, he

would be back under a mi-

croscope but without the

benefit of being the one in

charge,” Band said.

A family spokesperson told

the mag that the suggestion

that the ex-prez didn’t want

Hillary to win was “ridicu-

lous.” Tamar Lapin

Did he want

Hill to lose?

Chelsea Clinton had a falling-out with Doug Band,

her father’s former right-hand man, after she demanded

an ownership stake in his corporate advisory firm.

“I thought she was kidding or deeply sick,” Band told

Vanity Fair.

The two initially treated each other as family, but the

relationship imploded when Chelsea in 2011 sought a

stake in his company, Teneo, for herself and her hus-

band, Marc Mezvinsky, Band said. Kenneth Garger

Sorry, Chelsea, no way

Former President Bill

Clinton was so “out of

touch” with the real world

when he left office that he

apparently wasn’t familiar

with the TV show “Friends.”

Doug Band told Vanity

Fair that Clinton was

bummed out and depressed

in 2001 while his wife, Hill-

ary, was living in Washing-

ton and their daughter, Chel-

sea, was studying at Oxford.

Bubba’s idea of fun was

telling war stories and play-

ing card games, Band says.

He also asked Band, his

former aide, to break down

the plot of the Emmy

Award-winning ’90s sitcom.

“He was very out of touch

with the world,” Band re-

called. “He asked me one

night to explain what was

going on in this show called

‘Friends.’ ” Elizabeth Elizalde

Bill ‘Friends’-less

Bubba

did go to

Epstein’s

Caribbean

pedophile

retreat:

ex-adviser

The Obama administra-

tion tried to keep former

President Bill Clinton

from getting credit for

freeing two hostages from

North Korea in 2009, one-

time Clinton aide Doug

Band claims in his Vanity

Fair interview.

Band said he learned that

as Clinton was returning to

the United States with freed

American journalists Euna

Lee and Laura Ling, the

White House wanted the

former president to deplane

separately from the two

women, depriving him of

some positive publicity.

Band speculated the

move was the result of bit-

terness over sniping com-

ments Clinton made during

the 2008 Democratic pri-

mary campaign pitting his

wife, Hillary, against Ob-

ama.

From the plane, Band

phoned then-National Se-

curity Council head Denis

McDonough and said that,

while Clinton would abide

by the White House’s

wishes, it made Obama look

petty.

“I’m saving you from

yourself here,” Band re-

called telling McDonough.

The Obama administra-

tion acquiesced, and Clin-

ton got his photo-op.

Aaron Feis

Aide: Petty O tried to nix Clinton photo-op

Sordid FriendS: Doug Band (opposite page with

Chelsea Clinton) claims that he tried to distance former

President Bill Clinton from alleged madam Ghislaine

Maxwell (with Bill above), who became pals with Chelsea.

MEGA