Photo from Jeffrey Epstein’s files showing Bill Clinton and Jeffrey Epstein released by the US Department of Justice. Date and context unclear.
US Department of Justice
Former President Bill Clinton was scheduled to testify before the House Oversight Committee on Friday morning about Jeffrey Epstein, saying he “didn’t see anything and didn’t do anything wrong” while they were on planes and socializing together.
“First of all, I had no knowledge of the crimes that Epstein committed,” Clinton was scheduled to say during a closed-door deposition in Chappaqua, New York.
“No matter how many photos you show me, at the end of the day, two things are more important than your interpretation of a photo from 20 years ago: I know what I saw, and more importantly, I know what I didn’t see,” Clinton said.
“I know what I did and, more importantly, what I didn’t do,” he was going to say. “I didn’t see anything and I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“As someone who grew up in a home with domestic violence, if I had any awareness of his actions, I would not have boarded his flight. I would have extradited him and led the charge for justice for his crimes, not for a sweetheart deal,” Clinton said.
“But looking back 20/20, there was nothing that gave me pause.”
Mr. Clinton also on Thursday criticized the committee for forcing his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to testify about notorious sex offender Mr. Epstein. The committee issued subpoenas to both Clintons demanding testimony and threatened to hold them in contempt of Congress if they did not comply.
Hillary Clinton said she told the committee that she had no recollection of meeting Epstein or knew of his sexual abuse of young women or underage girls.
“Before we begin, I have to tell you a personal story,” Bill Clinton said, according to a prepared testimony posted to his X account.
“You invited Hillary. She has nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein. Nothing. She doesn’t even remember meeting him,” the former president was expected to say.
“She didn’t travel with him or visit his property. Whether you subpoenaed 10 people or 10,000 people, including her, it just wasn’t right.”
The House Oversight Committee has not asked President Donald Trump to testify about Epstein.
The two were friends for years before falling out in the early 2000s.
Epstein was arrested on federal child sex trafficking charges in July 2019 during the Trump administration.
Epstein committed suicide several weeks later in a federal prison in New York City.
President Trump said the Justice Department’s recent release of millions of documents related to Epstein exonerated him of any wrongdoing.
Trump spent months last year opposing a bill in Congress that would force the Justice Department to release these files. Once it became clear that Congress would pass the bill, he withdrew his opposition and signed it into law in late November.
