In a highly anticipated congressional meeting held on Friday, former President Bill Clinton officially declared that he was unaware of the criminal activities of Jeffrey Epstein, categorically denying any involvement or wrongdoing in his relationship with the convicted sex trafficker. This assertion came during his opening statement in a deposition before the House of Representatives Oversight Committee, a day after his wife, Hillary Clinton, appeared in the proceedings.
In his opening statement, Bill Clinton clarified that he would have reported Epstein's crimes if he had been aware of them. By the time when Epstein’s crimes came to light, Clinton said he had already ended their association following the 2008 plea deal. He further clarified to 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 had a falling out.
During her deposition on Thursday, Hillary Clinton vehemently denounced the House Oversight Committee and its Republican majority. She argued that the proceedings were not designed to seek truth and justice for the victims and survivors of Epstein’s crimes. She dismissed all these statements as false, citing debunked 2016 conspiracy theories that a Washington DC pizzeria was a front for a child sex ring run by her, and that New York police had discovered a pedophilia ring linked to Democrats.
When questioned about his relationship with Epstein, Clinton categorically denied all allegations of sexual misconduct and noted that he has not been charged with any crimes. Furthermore, he has not been officially accused of any wrongdoing connected to the financier’s illegal activities.
In this connection, James Comer, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, described the lengthy deposition as "very productive." He added that a video of his testimony and a full transcript would be released in the coming days.
Bill Clinton’s testimony has raised questions about President Donald Trump’s relationship with Epstein. House Democrats stated that the testimony provided additional information regarding Trump, justifying renewed demands to call the current president for questioning. However, Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, noted that Clinton’s testimony specifically detailed certain discussions with President Trump.
During the deposition, Chairman Comer was asked whether Trump should be summoned to testify. Comer noted that Clinton replied: "That's for you to decide." He further said that any new information provided by Clinton did not change his belief that Trump has been cleared of wrongdoing.
According to the BBC, Bill Clinton's name appears hundreds of times in the Epstein files. However, the fact that his name is mentioned in millions of Departments of Justice documents related to the late sex offender does not imply any wrongdoing. Bill Clinton appears in various documents and photos released in stages by the Department of Justice as part of a significant revelation during the federal probe into Epstein’s crimes.
Nonetheless, congressional depositions are typically conducted behind closed doors. In this case, the Clintons fought remarkably hard to negotiate terms allowing selected portions of their testimony to be released to the media following newly surfaced investigations.
