Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testified before the House of Representatives this week in connection with the Jeffrey Epstein case, and on Friday it was her husband, former President Bill Clinton, who appeared before lawmakers to address his ties to the late financier and convicted sex offender.
The Clintons had sought to avoid the politically charged appearances but agreed to testify after House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer threatened to pursue contempt of Congress charges if they refused to comply.
In closed-door testimony before the House Oversight Committee, Clinton said he would not have flown on Epstein’s private plane had he known of his alleged sex trafficking of underage girls, and that he would have reported him to authorities if he had been aware.
“I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong,” Clinton told lawmakers. “We are only here because he hid it from everyone so well for so long.”
Clinton said he “saw nothing that gave me pause” during the time he spent with Epstein, according to a Reuters report. He testified near his main residence in Chappaqua, New York.
The former president flew on Epstein’s plane several times in the early 2000s after leaving the White House and before Epstein’s 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor. A tranche of millions of documents released by the Justice Department includes photos of Clinton with women whose faces are redacted.
In a post on X following his testimony, the 79-year-old Clinton wrote that, as someone who grew up in a home with domestic violence, he would not have flown on Epstein’s plane had he known what he was doing and would have “led the call for justice for his crimes, not sweetheart deals.”
Hillary Clinton told the committee a day earlier that she did not remember ever meeting Epstein and had no information regarding investigations into his or Ghislaine Maxwell’s criminal conduct. “I want to be clear – I do not,” she said, when asked whether she had relevant information. She said she had never flown on Epstein’s plane or visited his island, homes or offices.
She acknowledged interacting with Maxwell, who later was convicted on sex trafficking charges, at events organized by the Clinton Foundation. Maxwell also attended the 2010 wedding of the Clintons’ daughter, Chelsea Clinton.
Democrats on the panel said President Donald Trump should also be subpoenaed to testify about his own past ties to Epstein, but Comer said that would not happen, according to Reuters.
While neither Bill nor Hillary Clinton has been accused by authorities of criminal wrongdoing related to Epstein, their testimony and renewed scrutiny of their past contacts with him have intensified political tensions in Washington. The Clintons have accused Republicans of using the hearings to shield Trump and score political points in a scandal that continues to reverberate globally.