Bill Clinton has become the first former president ever compelled to testify before Congress against his will, appearing for a historic deposition near his Chappaqua, New York home after being threatened with contempt charges.
The 79-year-old opened his Friday testimony by furiously attacking Republicans for forcing his wife Hillary to appear before lawmakers, stating: “Before we start, I have to get personal. You made Hillary come in. She had nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein. Nothing. She has no memory of even meeting him. She neither traveled with him nor visited any of his properties.”
Hillary told lawmakers on Thursday she never met Epstein and only encountered Maxwell on a few occasions. Clinton stated: “Whether you subpoenaed 10 people or 10,000, including her was simply not right.”
The former president warned lawmakers he would frequently respond “I don’t recall” during questioning, stating: “You’ll often hear me say that I don’t recall. That might be unsatisfying. But I’m not going to say something I’m not sure of. This was all a long time ago. And I am bound by my oath not to speculate, or to guess.”
Clinton declared: “I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong” regarding his relationship with the pedophile financier. He added: “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.”
New photos from the DOJ’s Epstein files prompted the congressional inquiry, showing Clinton aboard a private jet with an unidentified woman and swimming with Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking minor girls.
Epstein visited the White House 17 times during Clinton’s presidency. Clinton took 27 known trips on the pedophile’s private jet after leaving office. The former president stated: “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. And by the time it came to light with his 2008 guilty plea, I had long stopped associating with him.”
Clinton acknowledged his association with Epstein from the early 1990s into the early 2000s. He maintains he flew on Epstein’s private plane during Clinton Foundation trips before the financier was charged with any sex crimes but denies wrongdoing and says he cut ties years before Epstein’s 2006 arrest.
The former president previously stated he never visited Little St James, Epstein’s private Caribbean island where many accusers say they were trafficked. Maxwell confirmed in a Justice Department interview last year that Clinton was never there.
Clinton’s declaration stated: “I do not recall speaking to Mr. Epstein for more than a decade prior to his 2019 arrest.” Hillary said after her Thursday deposition: “I think the chronology of the connection that he had with Epstein ended several years before anything about Epstein’s criminal activities came to light.”
No evidence has emerged implicating either Bill or Hillary Clinton in criminal conduct related to Epstein. Democrats argue the precedent should also apply to Donald Trump, who had his own relationship with Epstein.
Epstein was found hanged in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 whilst awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
