Former NBA player and U.S. Congressman Tom McMillen expressed surprise when confronted with his name appearing in Jeffrey Epstein’s flight logs. The 73-year-old sports and political figure was a guest on the “Pablo Torre Finds Out” podcast. It was during this appearance on December 2 that he confronted his name appearing in the files, which Congress released in November.
Epstein died in prison in August 2019. He had been arrested in July 2019 for sex trafficking minors and was a registered sex offender since 2008.
McMillen’s handwritten name reportedly appeared on a 1993 flight record. This was weeks after he concluded six years representing Maryland in the U.S. House of Representatives. The flight was documented from Washington, D.C., to Atlanta and then to Palm Beach, Florida.
The podcast also showed a video of McMillen with Epstein and then-businessman Donald Trump. This video was from an NBC promotional event for Trump’s Mar-a-Lago in November 1992.
“I don’t remember it, and I don’t think it’s accurate. I don’t remember it,” McMillen stated during the video call interview. He insisted, “It’s not true. I don’t remember any of this.”
McMillen played in the NBA from 1975 to 1986. His career included stints with the Buffalo Braves, New York Knicks, Atlanta Hawks, and Washington Bullets. He served as a U.S. Representative from 1987 to 1993.
Podcast host Pablo Torre, 40, highlighted that the flight log specifically listed “Tom McMillen (Congressman).”
McMillen attempted to redirect the conversation. “Please, can we move on? I thought we were going to talk about sports and things like that. This was 35 years ago. I have no relationship here.”
He abruptly announced he was ending the interview. “I’m leaving,” McMillen told Torre. “I’m sorry, I wanted to talk about positive things and some topics about college sports and so on.”
He added, “This was so long ago. I’d bet you don’t remember something from 35 years ago either. So, let’s say goodbye. Ask me your last question. What is it?”
Torre asked for any final comments to clarify the situation.
“I haven’t had any relationship with [Epstein] since the early 90s,” McMillen responded. “So I think that’s it. Many people knew him. I barely knew him. So let’s move on.”
However, McMillen provided further statements after the interview concluded.
In an email to the “Pablo Torre Finds Out” podcast, McMillen wrote, “I never had a close relationship or anything that could be described as friendship with Epstein.” He clarified his long-standing acquaintance with Donald Trump. “I have known President Trump for 40 years.”
McMillen recalled being on Trump’s guest list for parties in the early 1990s. This included the November 1992 Mar-a-Lago promotional party filmed by NBC. McMillen stated he and his girlfriend entered the party at the same time as Epstein but spoke with Trump separately.
He reiterated his central denial. “I still don’t recall ever being on Epstein’s plane, not even in January 1993.”
In a separate email, McMillen criticized the podcast interview’s nature. He expressed disappointment that the primary focus was on Epstein and old incidents. He felt these incidents, though minor, “could be made to look bad.”
McMillen also claimed the interview exceeded its requested 20-minute length, extending to “at least double.” He concluded the interview abruptly, he said, because he felt “misled about the content.” “The interview seemed to be looking for ambush angles rather than depth,” he stated.