Bill Clinton Denies Wrongdoing At Grilling On Epstein Ties
CHAPPAQUA, United States: Former US president Bill Clinton denied any wrongdoing before a congressional panel investigating his ties to Jeffrey Epstein on Friday, as Democrats sought to shift attention to Donald Trump’s own ties to the notorious sex offender.
Clinton features prominently in the Epstein files, but she insists she cut ties long before the disgraced billionaire was convicted of sex crimes in 2008.
“I didn’t see anything and I didn’t do anything wrong,” Clinton said in her opening statement, which was shared on social media.
James Comer, the Republican chairman of the House committee investigating Epstein, said he would “ask a lot of questions” before Clinton testifies. His Republican counterpart, Anna Paulina Luna, said the former president was a collaborator.
But Democrats on the committee renewed their calls for Trump, who has well-documented ties to Epstein, to be interrogated.
Emphasizing that Clinton did not evade any questions, Democratic committee member Suhas Subramanyam said, “Let’s be real, we are talking to the wrong president.”
Clinton did not directly name Trump in her statement, but said “no one, not even presidents, but especially presidents, is above the law.”
Trump, for his part, reiterated his skepticism about the entire process, telling reporters that he liked Clinton and “don’t like to see her dethroned.”
The fact that her name is mentioned in the files released by the US Department of Justice does not constitute a crime, and Clinton, like Trump, has not been accused of a crime or formally investigated.
Clinton follows his wife, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who testified on Thursday and defiantly asked for Trump to appear before the panel.
He said lawmakers should ask Trump “directly under oath about his appearances tens of thousands of times in the Epstein files.”
Testimony is held behind closed doors, and Bill Clinton likened the hearings to a “kangaroo court.” The couple called for them to be open and televised.
Hillary Clinton said she never knew Epstein or visited the properties where he hosted world celebrities, powerful business and political figures and where he allegedly trafficked young women and girls.
Bill Clinton acknowledged extensive interaction with Epstein but said the financier had never visited the infamous Caribbean island.
Epstein was convicted of soliciting sex from 14-year-old girls in 2008, but died in a New York jail cell in 2019 before he could be tried on sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide, but like so much else surrounding Epstein, it is the subject of lurid conspiracy theories.
The Clintons had initially refused subpoenas ordering them to testify, but the Democratic power couple agreed to do so after House Republicans threatened them with contempt of Congress.
– ‘I handed him over’ –
Democrats say the investigation is being weaponized to attack Trump’s political opponents rather than legitimate oversight.
Among the never-before-seen photos in the files is a photo of Bill Clinton lounging in a jacuzzi; Part of the image is obscured by a dark black rectangle.
In another, Clinton is seen swimming with a dark-haired woman who appears to be Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
Bill Clinton acknowledged flying on Epstein’s private plane several times in the early 2000s for Clinton Foundation-related humanitarian work.
“While Bill Clinton was President, Jeffrey Epstein was in the White House 17 times. We know that Bill Clinton flew on Jeffrey Epstein’s plane at least 27 times. So these are the questions we will be asking,” Comer said.
“If I had the slightest idea what he was doing, not only would I not have flown on his plane, I would have turned him in,” Clinton said in her opening statement.
The depositions are being held in Chappaqua, New York, the Clintons’ home, where dozens of journalists and Secret Service officers have gathered.
