'I did nothing wrong.' Bill Clinton grilled by House in Epstein deposition
Clinton became the first former president forced to testify to Congress, as part of the inquiry into how Epstein built his wealth and a network of rich and powerful friends.
Former President Bill Clinton denied wrongdoing in his relationship with accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein as House Republicans grilled him on Feb. 27 about the late financier's fundraising, numerous visits to the White House and pictures in Justice Department files.
Clinton, the first former president forced to testify before Congress, told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in his opening statement that he “had no idea of the crimes Epstein was committing.” He dismissed the 20-year-old pictures from the department’s files and Epstein's estate.
“I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong,” Clinton said. “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.”
Upon exiting the session, Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer, R-Kentucky, said questioning the former president was "very productive" while declining to elaborate.
"You’ll see the video. … Everybody knows President Clinton. He’s got Southern people skills; he’s a charming individual," the congressman said. "We picked up new facts; we asked the Clintons where we should go from here."
The former president’s deposition at the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center, near the Clintons' home in suburban New York, comes just a day after his wife and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testified. The former first lady, who was also subpoenaed, told the committee on Feb. 26 she didn’t know Epstein and never flew on his plane. She called her deposition “repetitive” and a “fishing expedition.”
Video of the depositions will be released "within the next 24 hours," Comer suggested.
GOP committee members said they have questions for the former first couple because Epstein visited the White House 17 times while Bill Clinton was president and then Clinton traveled 27 times on his private plane after leaving office. Clinton also appeared in a number of pictures released in the Epstein files with celebrities or in more casual surroundings with the faces of women redacted.
Comer said documents from the Justice Department and Epstein’s estate portray the late financier as raising money for the Clinton Global Initiative, a foundation seeking action on issues such as the climate and health care. Hillary Clinton told the committee Feb. 26 to ask her husband about it because she was a senator during the period in question.
“This is a historical day for the United States Congress," Comer said. “Nobody is accusing anyone of any wrongdoing. But I think the American people have a lot of questions."
The inquiry comes as lawmakers and women who accused Epstein of abuse have forced the Justice Department to released 3 million pages of documents about his criminal investigation. But millions more pages remain sealed, and President Donald Trump has said the country should move on.
Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal charges of child sex trafficking. His associate Ghislaine Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison term for conspiring to transport minors for illicit sex. Critics of the investigation have questioned why more coconspirators haven’t been charged.
Here is what to know about the Clintons' testimony.
Lawmakers clash over what Clinton told them about Trump
A dispute arose between Republican and Democratic lawmakers about what Bill Clinton said about Trump, which led to more calls for the entire transcript and video of the deposition to be released.
Comer, the GOP chairman, quoted Clinton as saying that Trump "'has never said anything to me to make me think that he was involved.' He meant with Epstein. I know there’s a lot of curiosity about President Trump. I thought that was an interesting thing that President Clinton said."
But Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the committee, who had asked Clinton about Trump, disputed Comer’s summary.
“I think the way Chairman Comer described it, I don’t think is a complete and accurate description of what was said,” Garcia said. “Let’s release the full transcript.”
Comer has said the entire transcript and video would be released.
Trump told reporters at the White House that he didn't know about Epstein's criminal activity.
“You know, I've been fully exonerated," Trump said.
Trump calls Lutnick 'innocent' but lawmakers still want to question him
Trump called Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick "a very innocent guy" after revelations about socializing with Epstein on his private island, but lawmakers of both parties said they wanted to question him under oath.
Lutnick, who appeared in about 10 emails in the Epstein files, has acknowledged having lunch with his family at Epstein’s private island in 2012. Lutnick told a Senate panel he has nothing to hide.
“Howard Lutnick should take questions from the Oversight committee,” Rep. Nancy Mace, R-South Carolina, said on social media Feb. 27 after a picture of Lutnick and Epstein was removed temporarily from the Justice Department’s archive of documents and then restored.
Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Florida, said the committee should question Lutnick, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Trump about how Epstein documents have been handled.
“We have questions for him,” Frost said.
Trump defended Lutnick and said he would do what was required.
“Howard would go in and do whatever he has to say,” Trump said. “He’s a very innocent guy. He’s doing a good job.”
Bill defends Hillary
Bill Clinton chastised the committee for subpoenaing his wife, who he said had nothing to do with Epstein.
“Nothing,” he said. “She has no memory of even meeting him. She neither traveled with him nor visited any of his properties. Whether you subpoenaed 10 people or 10,000, including her was simply not right.”
Clinton said he would answer questions to the best of his ability, but would often reply that he doesn’t recall. He said he couldn’t play detective with events 24 years ago and doesn’t want to say something he’s unsure about.
“With that Mr. Chairman, fire away,” Clinton said.
Clinton 'very cooperative,' possible target for economic intelligence: Luna
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Florida, said Clinton was being cooperative and that she thinks Epstein was running “a honey-pot operation” to gain economic intelligence from business and political leaders by providing them with sex.
“President Clinton is being very cooperative,” Luna said.
She said she couldn't detail Clinton's responses to questions until the transcript is released. But she said he appeared to be a target for Epstein seeking economic information.
“I do believe that Jeffrey Epstein was targeting many politicians, many influential people, especially in regards to economic policy,” Luna added. “I do believe that it was possible that not just [Bill Clinton], but Secretary Clinton as well as a number of other people were targeted.”
Hillary Clinton called questions she faced 'very repetitive'
Hillary Clinton commended Comer for “raising a series of significant questions” near the end of her deposition about what else the committee should explore. But she said most of the questions were repetitive.
“I appreciated that. I want to see the truth come out,” Clinton told reporters. “That was a reassuring way to end a very long, repetitive deposition.”
She had called the event a “fishing expedition” in her opening statement. She said she never flew on Epstein’s plane or visited his island, and couldn’t recall encountering him.
Outside the hearing, reporters asked Clinton why Maxwell attended her daughter Chelsea Clinton’s wedding in 2010.
“She came as the plus-one – the guest – of someone who was invited,” Clinton said, without elaborating.
Lawmakers, Clintons mum − for now
Lawmakers and the Clintons agreed not to detail the responses until the full transcripts and videos of the sessions are released, which could be as early as Feb. 27 for Hillary Clinton's session.
Lawmakers held the depositions behind closed doors to cover more ground in questioning than traditional congressional hearings allow.
The Clintons had offered to testify at an open hearing so the public could see the questions and answers immediately. Hillary Clinton's deposition paused briefly because of a dispute about Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colorado, sending out pictures that were posted on social media.
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-South Carolina, described Hillary Clinton as "unhinged" and screaming during her session. But Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the committee, called that a "mischaracterization" of her being asked about UFOs and conspiracy theories in addition to Epstein.
Why are the Clintons being scrutinized?
The Clintons have said they were unaware of Epstein’s criminal activity and knew little about him.
Bill Clinton's name appears in flight logs from 2002 and 2003 that document travel with Epstein to destinations including Thailand, Portugal, Ghana, Russia and China. Those trips took place years before Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to charges related to prostitution involving a minor.
The former president also appeared in pictures with Epstein and in a handwritten note in a book that Maxwell assembled for Epstein’s 50th birthday.
Maxwell attended a Clinton Global Initiative event in 2013. In a BBC interview, Hillary Clinton said her attendance at the event was circumstantial as “thousands of people go to the Clinton Global Initiative.”
How unusual is it for Congress to subpoena former presidents?
Bill Clinton’s deposition marks the first time Congress forced a former president to testify, although presidents occasionally answered questions voluntarily.
Democrats have said the subpoena sets a precedent that will allow them to force President Donald Trump to testify about Epstein and other subjects when they regain control of Congress.
“It’s time for the president to answer questions about why files are missing from the DOJ, why there has been a White House coverup and why they continue in that administration to call this investigation a hoax,” Garcia said. Trump and Epstein had a social relationship in the 1990s and early 2000s. Trump has said he ended that around 2004.
Republicans said they didn’t need to subpoena Trump. Comer said Trump had already answered “hundreds if not thousands” of questions from reporters about Epstein – and signed legislation releasing millions of documents.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Florida, said the committee questioned women who accused Epstein of abuse about Trump and they said he wasn’t involved.
“We had cooperation. We asked the victims directly, and he was exonerated,” Luna said.
(This story was updated to add a video.)