Epstein probe: Bill Clinton tells House Panel 'I saw nothing and I did nothing wrong' in heated deposition

Clinton grilled over Epstein ties

Former US president Bill Clinton appeared before a congressional panel on Friday to address his well-documented connections to Jeffrey Epstein, while Democrats sought to redirect scrutiny toward Donald Trump and his ties to the convicted sex offender.

Clinton features prominently throughout the Epstein files, but he maintains that he severed ties with Epstein well before the financier’s 2008 conviction for sex offences.

“I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong,” Clinton said in his opening statement, which was shared on social media.

Ahead of Clinton’s deposition, Republican committee chair James Comer said he was looking forward to “asking lots of questions.”

However, Democrats on the panel renewed their demand that Trump be questioned.

“Let's be real, we are talking to the wrong president,” said Democrat committee member Suhas Subramanyam.

Clinton did not directly mention Trump but stated that “no person is above the law, even presidents -- especially presidents.”

Being referenced in documents released by the US Department of Justice does not automatically imply wrongdoing, and Clinton has neither been accused of a crime nor formally investigated.

He followed his wife, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who testified the previous day and urged that President Trump — who, like Bill Clinton, had multiple connections to Epstein — should appear before the panel.

Lawmakers, she said, should question Trump “directly under oath about the tens of thousands of times he shows up in the Epstein files.”

The depositions are taking place behind closed doors, with Bill Clinton describing the proceedings as a “kangaroo court.” The couple has called for the sessions to be open and televised.

The questioning carries greater political risk for the former president than for his wife, as he has acknowledged frequent interactions with Epstein but stated that he never visited the financier’s private Caribbean island.

Epstein associated with influential figures from business, politics and entertainment, and was convicted in 2008 for soliciting sex from girls as young as 14.

He died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while facing trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.

The Republican-led House Oversight Committee is probing those who were linked to Epstein in light of the Justice Department's disclosures of millions of new documents related to its investigation of him.

The Clintons had initially rejected subpoenas ordering them to testify, but the Democratic power couple agreed to do so after House Republicans threatened to hold them in contempt of Congress.

Newly released pictures

Hillary Clinton said in her opening statement to the panel that it "justified its subpoena to me based on its assumption that I have information regarding the investigations into the criminal activities of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell."

"Let me be as clear as I can. I do not."

Democrats say the investigation is being weaponized to attack Trump's political opponents rather than to conduct legitimate oversight.

Previously unseen photographs from the files include one showing Bill Clinton reclining in a hot tub, part of the image obscured by a stark black rectangle.

In another, Clinton is pictured swimming alongside a dark-haired woman who appears to be Epstein's accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.

Bill Clinton has acknowledged flying on Epstein's private plane several times in the early 2000s for Clinton Foundation-related humanitarian work, while Hillary said she did not know Epstein.

"Jeffrey Epstein was in the White House 17 times while Bill Clinton was President. We know that Bill Clinton flew on Jeffrey Epstein's plane at least 27 times. So those are questions that we're going to ask," said Comer.

Clinton said in his opening statement "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."

The depositions are being held in Chappaqua, New York, where the Clintons reside.

Dozens of journalists have converged on the wealthy hamlet and the Secret Service erected metal barricades around the arts center where the depositions are happening.