Former U.S. President Bill Clinton said on Friday (27 February) that he had no knowledge of the crimes committed by Jeffrey Epstein and would not have flown on the late convicted sex offender’s plane had he had any inkling of his activities.
"I know what I did, and more importantly, what I didn't do. I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong," Clinton said in his prepared opening statement to the House of Representatives Oversight Committee.
His testimony follows that of his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who told the House of Representatives Oversight Committee on Thursday that she did not remember ever meeting Epstein and had nothing to share about his sex crimes.
Bill Clinton flew on Epstein's plane several times in the early 2000s after he left office. A tranche of millions of documents released by the Justice Department includes photographs of him with women whose faces have been redacted.
He has denied wrongdoing and expressed regret for his association with Epstein.
The panel’s Republican chairman, Representative James Comer of Kentucky, has said the Clintons are not accused of wrongdoing but must answer questions about Epstein’s involvement with their charitable foundation.
The couple agreed to testify near their main residence in Chappaqua, New York, after the House of Representatives threatened to hold them in contempt of Congress for refusing to co-operate. Some Democrats supported the move.
Both Clintons have accused Republicans of conducting a partisan exercise designed to shield President Donald Trump from scrutiny, noting that others involved in the inquiry were permitted to submit written statements rather than testify in person.
Democrats have argued that the panel should also subpoena Trump, whose name appears frequently in the Epstein-related files. Trump socialised extensively with Epstein in the 1990s and 2000s, before Epstein’s 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor.
They have also accused Trump’s Justice Department of withholding records relating to a woman who alleged that Trump sexually abused her when she was a minor.
The Justice Department has said it is reviewing the material in question and will publish it if appropriate.
The department has previously cautioned that the material it has released includes unfounded allegations and sensational claims about Trump. Authorities have not accused him of any criminal wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.
Epstein died in jail in 2019 while facing U.S. federal sex-trafficking crimes. His death was ruled a suicide.
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