Bill Clinton told a congressional committee on Friday he “had no idea of the crimes” Jeffrey Epstein was committing and insisted he “did nothing wrong” in his relationship with the disgraced financier and convicted sex trafficker.
The former president’s remarks came in his opening statement in a deposition to the House of Representatives’ oversight committee, a day after his wife, Hillary Clinton, appeared before the same body and called the proceedings “partisan political theater” and “an insult to the American people”.
Before the deposition began,James Comer, the committee’s chair, said the former president would be subjected to “a big portfolio of questions” after Hillary Clinton deferred at least a dozen questions about the couple’s relationship to Epstein, who died in custody in 2019.
Comer spoke to reporters after the roughly six-hour deposition, saying he believed it was “very productive”, and that the former president answered every question.
“A consistent theme continues to persist throughout al the people we bring in – obviously the government failed the victims,” he said. “Justice was not served in Palm Beach when Epstein was first arrested.”
In his statement, Bill Clinton said he would have reported Epstein’s crimes if he had been aware of them, and referenced his own upbringing in an abusive household.
“As someone who grew up in a home with domestic abuse, not only would I not have flown on his plane if I had any inkling of what he was doing – I would have turned him in myself and led the call for justice for his crimes, not sweetheart deals,” he said in a statement posted on social media after Friday’s hearing began.
“But even with 20/20 hindsight, I saw nothing that ever gave me pause. We are only here because he hid it from everyone so well for so long.”
By the time Epstein’s crimes came to light, as a result of a plea deal in 2008, Clinton said he had ended his association. Clinton also reportedly told the committee that he had spoken to Donald Trump about Epstein at a golf tournament in the early 2000s, and that Trump had told him the two had also fallen out.
During a break in Friday’s proceedings, Comer briefed journalists that the former president had suggested that Trump – who Democrats say should also be subpoenaed to appear before the committee – was not “involved” in Epstein’s crimes.
“[Ranking Democrat Robert] Garcia asked President Clinton: ‘Should President Trump be called to answer questions from this committee?’ And President Clinton said: ‘That’s for you to decide’,” Comer said.
“And [Clinton] went on to say that the president – Trump – has never said anything to me to make me think he was involved when he met with Epstein.”
Comer’s interpretation was challenged by Garcia moments later when Democrats addressed reporters.
“I think the best response to that is for you to view the complete record of what actually he said,” Garcia said.
“President Clinton did bring up some additional information about some discussions with President Trump. The way Chairman Comer described it I don’t think is a complete, accurate description of what actually was said.”
During her deposition on Thursday, Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state, said she had never met Epstein.
After the hearing, she complained about the repetitive nature of the questions and said she had also been asked about UFOs and the “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory.
Comer attributed the repetition to a “lot of documentation that would suggest that she had a relationship with Epstein”. Comer added that Hillary Clinton and Epstein communicated often.
The former Democratic president flew on Epstein’s private jet several times in the early 2000s, but said he never visited his island. Comer said Hillary Clinton had confirmed that Epstein visited the White House 17 times – as suggested in the presidential mansion’s visitor records – during her husband’s presidency and had flown at least 27 times on the Epstein plane, which was nicknamed the “Lolita express”.
Bill Clinton, who had an extramarital affair while president and has been accused of sexual misconduct by three women, also appears in a photo from the recently released files, in a hot tub with Epstein and a woman whose identity is redacted.
The former president told lawmakers that he was unsure who the woman in the photograph was, according to CNN, which relied on unnamed sources familiar with the testimony. Clinton was also asked if he had had sex with the woman – and several others depicted in photographs – and reportedly said he had not.
Clinton also said he cut ties with Epstein in about 2005 before Epstein pleaded guilty to solicitation of a minor in Florida.
Clinton has denied the sexual misconduct claims and has not been charged with any crimes. He also has not been accused of any wrongdoing connected to Epstein.
Speaking outside the performing arts centre near their home in Chappaqua in upstate New York where the Clintons’ hearings were held, Nancy Mace, the South Carolina Republican representative, told reporters she appreciated the testimony from Clinton and that he attempted to respond to every question asked, and that “even when his attorneys told him to shut up he kept going”.
But, she added, she believed there were inconsistencies in responses from the Clintons.
Mace struck a very different tone when referring to Hillary Clinton’s deposition, calling her “unhinged”. Mace told reporters Clinton had responded to some of her questioning by “screaming”.
The claim was rebutted by Garcia, who called on the Republican majority to release unedited video footage of the proceedings. “To say that the secretary was screaming, I think, is beyond a mischaracterization. What happened yesterday was a disgrace – to be asking about UFOs, [and] Pizzagate conspiracy theories,” he said.
Democrats called for Trump to be questioned before the committe. Clinton’s appearance made him the first former president to testify before Congress since Gerald Ford in 1983.
“A new precedent has been set in America today,” said Ro Khanna, a California Democrat and co-sponsor of the legislation that has mandated the release of the Epstein files.
“Now we have the Clinton rule, which is: the presidents and their families have to testify when Congress issues a subpoena. And that means that Donald Trump needs to come before our committee and explain what he knew about Epstein.”
The House committee subpoenaed the Clintons in August. They initially refused to testify, but agreed after Republicans threatened to hold them in contempt.
The Clintons asked for their depositions to be held publicly, with the former president stating that to do so behind closed doors would amount to a “kangaroo court”.
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