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Bill Clinton has testified to Congress about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, insisting he “saw nothing” and “did nothing wrong” during his “brief acquaintance” with the late convicted sex offender.
The former US president provided a closed-door deposition to the House oversight committee on Friday, one day after his wife, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, testified before the same panel.
Bill Clinton is the first former president in US history to be compelled to testify before a congressional committee.
The Clintons’ appearances before the committee marked the latest twist in a saga that has raised uncomfortable questions about Epstein’s links to some of the biggest names in business and politics, including the Clintons and the current president, Donald Trump.
While Trump and his Republican allies have sought to draw attention to the Clintons’ ties to Epstein, Democrats have raised their own questions about the administration’s handling of Department of Justice files relating to Epstein, including documents related to Trump and members of his cabinet.
Democratic lawmakers earlier this week launched an investigation into allegations the DoJ withheld files in which a minor accused Trump of sexual abuse. The justice department has said all Epstein documents in the government’s possession “have been produced” unless the material was a duplicate, privileged or part of a federal investigation.
The Clintons long resisted answering the House oversight committee’s questions, but agreed to testify earlier this month after Trump-aligned Republican lawmakers threatened to hold them in contempt of Congress.
The former president and the former secretary of state — who lost the 2016 presidential election to Trump — have come under mounting political pressure in recent months over their ties to Epstein.
US attorney-general Pam Bondi said in November last year that the DoJ would investigate Bill Clinton’s links to Epstein, in response to a request from Trump.
A batch of Epstein files released by the DoJ in December included at least 24 separate images of Bill Clinton. The former president was pictured alongside Epstein, as well as individuals whose faces were redacted.
Bill Clinton on Friday acknowledged he was at one point friends with Epstein. But in an opening statement published on social media, the former president described their relationship as a “brief acquaintance” that “ended years before his crimes came to light”.
“I had no idea of the crimes Epstein was committing,” Clinton told lawmakers. “I know what I saw, and more importantly, what I didn’t see. I know what I did, and more importantly, what I didn’t do. I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong.”
Hillary Clinton, in her opening statement on Thursday, accused the Republican-led committee of orchestrating a “partisan political theatre” to distract from questions about Trump’s relationship with Epstein, who was found dead in his jail cell awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges in 2019.
Asked about Bill Clinton’s testimony on Friday morning, Trump told reporters at the White House: “I don’t like seeing him deposed. But they certainly went after me more than that.”
Trump has acknowledged that he was once friends with Epstein, but said he cut ties with the convicted sex offender more than two decades ago. The president has denied any involvement in, or knowledge of, Epstein’s crimes.
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