Bill Clinton, in deposition, said he never saw Epstein sexually abuse women or girls

Former President Bill Clinton told members of the House Oversight Committee that he never witnessed the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse young women or girls, nor did he himself ever have sexual contact with anyone introduced to him by Epstein, according to video released Monday of last week’s closed-door depositions of the ex-president and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The Republican-led committee questioned each of the Clintons individually last week in their hometown of Chappaqua, New York, as part of an inquiry into the federal government’s handling of investigations into Epstein and his convicted co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell.

The deposition of Bill Clinton on Friday marked the first time a former president was compelled to testify before a congressional committee.

“Did you ever witness Mr. Epstein sexually abuse or assault young women or girls?” Clinton was asked.

“No,” Clinton replied.

“Did you ever witness Mr. Epstein receive massages from young women or girls?” a lawmaker asked.

“Not that I recall,” Clinton said.

“Did Mr. Epstein ever discuss sexual acts of any kind with you?” Clinton was asked.

“No,” he replied.

Asked, with the benefit of hindsight, if there were things you witnessed that could have suggested that Epstein was trafficking and sexually abusing young women and girls, Clinton, after pausing for a few seconds, replied, “I do not believe so.”

Clinton was also pressed about some of the photos released by the Department of Justice showing his international travels with Epstein.

Addressing a photo showing Clinton in a pool with an unknown woman, the former president told lawmakers that he could not recall the identity of the woman.

“It appears there’s a — this photo there’s a girl over here,” said one questioner.

“Yeah, I don’t know who that is,” Clinton said.

“But he’s also asking in the pool area. Were there other individuals?” an attorney asked.

“I don’t know who that is,” Clinton repeated.

“And then I have to ask this, did you engage in any sexual activities with this person?” the questioner asked.

“No,” Clinton said, appearing visibly frustrated.

Clinton was also asked about a photo showing him appearing to get a massage in an airport by an unknown woman. He claimed that his “neck had spasmed” and that one of the women offered to help.

“The problem I remember from that trip was that my neck had spasmed and I was in — and so they offered to help and I let them help one,” Clinton said. He said that he could not recall any other massages from the trip.

“This is an email from Virginia Giuffre, an Epstein victim that alleged that you walked into Vanity Fair and threatened them not to write sex trafficking articles about your good friend Jeffrey Epstein,” a lawmaker asked. “Mr. President, is this true?”

“No. And no, not no. Hell no. Not close. No,” Clinton said.

Meeting Epstein

Clinton suggested to members of the House Oversight Committee that he first met Epstein after being connected by his former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, shedding light for the first time on the origin of his and Epstein’s relationship.

“He was calling because a man named Jeffrey Epstein, who had made a substantial commitment of several million dollars … to brain research, and he was an information hungry person, and he wanted to spend some time talking to me about economics and politics,” Clinton said.

“He said he’s got this massive airplane, and he said he would take you, your staff, your Secret Service detail, anybody else you wanted to bring on the trips that he knew I was planning to set up a global network to provide lifesaving AIDS medicine to as many people as possible, as quickly as possible,” Clinton said.

“Did you witness anything unusual with Epstein that would lead you to believe that Epstein was creepy?” he was asked.

“No, I never saw him do anything that I was suspicious,” Clinton responded.

However, Clinton said he found Epstein to be “odd.”

“I felt friendly toward him, but he was, as I said in my book, odd. There was always something a little holding back. And he, and I could tell,” Clinton said.

While Clinton acknowledged a photograph showing him and Epstein in the White House in 1993, the former president said he did not remember Epstein from the encounter, which he said was a generic meet-and-greet with donors.

“I first remember meeting him when I got on his airplane to take the first trip with my foundation in, I think 2002, whatever it was,” Clinton said.

When asked about Epstein’s wealth, Clinton said he believed he got most of his money from retail billionaire Leslie Wexner, who was deposed by the committee last month.

“I knew that he had made an extraordinary amount of money from Les Wexner who was quite wealthy. I had no idea whether he had made enough to support the lifestyle that I saw,” Clinton said.

Epstein’s planes

Flight logs from Epstein’s private jets show that Bill Clinton and his entourage took four international trips in 2002 and 2003 on the financier’s Boeing 727 to locations including Bangkok, Brunei, Rwanda, Russia, China and elsewhere, as part of what Clinton has described as trips for the Clinton Foundation, the nonprofit humanitarian organization he founded after he left the presidency in 2001.

Clinton, in his deposition, acknowledged that Epstein was on most of the flights he took using his plane, and claimed that his team spent most of the time onboard preparing for the next stop, sleeping, and playing cards.

Clinton said he asked Epstein about why he was loaning his private jet, and the disgraced financier claimed he wanted to better understand Clinton’s success as Democratic politician.

“He said I think you did a good job as president and you managed to get reelected and you’re the first Democrat in 60 years to get reelected. I want to know what happened and I want to understand it,” Clinton said. “And that was it. I mean, he never was, you know, it was never like he was trying to suck up to me or anything. He just was, it was very straightforward. And, but after a while it was obvious that he had done what he intended to do, and he was kind of going through the motions and he didn’t really care about what I really cared about.”

Epstein’s birthday book

When asked about the note that Bill Clinton wrote for Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday book, the former president said he was trying to reflect his belief that Epstein was a curious and interesting person.

“I thought Epstein was interesting and curious. So, I wrote a letter that I thought reflected that,” Clinton said.

“Can you elaborate on what made him interesting and curious?” Clinton was asked.

“No more than I’ve already said,” he responded.

The text of the Clinton’s letter, which was released by the House Oversight Committee, read: ‘Jeffrey — Happy 50th — It’s reassuring isn’t it, to have lasted as long, across all the years of learning and knowing, adventures and [illegible], and also to have your childlike curiosity, the drive to make a difference and the solace of friends — Bill Clinton”

Clinton denied that the letter in any way referenced “inappropriate activities” involving underage girls.

“I was requested to contribute a nice letter for his birthday book,” he said. “Not a bad letter.”

‘Why would Epstein say that?’

During a heated exchange with Rep. Nancy Mace, Bill Clinton denied being interested in young women — prompting Mace to make a seeming jab about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky.

Clinton was asked about Epstein allegedly telling a victim that the former president “likes them young,” according to a 2016 deposition.

“Why would Epstein say that?” Mace asked. “Clinton likes them young, referring to girls.”

“First of all, that’s not true,” Clinton said.

“What’s not true? Mace asked.

“That I have any interest in underage [girls]” Clinton said.

“I didn’t say underage. I said I said young,” Mace said.

“But it’s still not true,” Clinton said.

“Is an intern young?” Mace asked.

“Yes,” Clinton said.

During another tense exchange, Rep. Lauren Boebert attempted to press Clinton about how Epstein died.

“I would just like to ask you personally and directly, do you believe that Jeffrey Epstein killed himself?” she asked before an attorney intervened.

“I don’t know. I only know what the medical finding was,” Clinton said. “He finally got caught and — I don’t know. I’ve accep- — I’ve accepted it in my own mind. I don’t know what happened.”

“Mr. President, what did you accept, that he killed himself or that he did not?” she pressed.

“That he did. But I don’t know,” Clinton said. “None of us know. We weren’t there.”

Clinton on Trump

According to Bill Clinton, President Donald Trump told him that his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein fell apart over a “real estate deal.”

Clinton told lawmakers that Trump briefly mentioned his relationship with Epstein during a conversation in the early 2000s at a charity golf tournament hosted on one of Trump’s courses.

“Donald Trump would come out and play a few holes with us, and he somehow knew I had flown in Jeffrey Epstein’s aircraft, and he said, ‘You know, we had some great times together over the years, but we fell out all because of a real estate deal’ and he said that I’m sorry it happened. That’s all,” Clinton said.

Trump said last year that his relationship with Epstein ended after he “stole” his employee from Mar-a-Lago, though previous reporting suggested they had a falling out after a bidding war between them in 2004 over a Palm Beach mansion. Clinton said he had limited knowledge about the purported land dispute, noting that the conversation with Trump lasted only about two minutes.

“Did President Trump specifically characterize uh the result of this land dispute they had as a falling out specifically?” he was asked.

“Yeah. He said they both wanted a same piece of land. He didn’t say what it was and that’s all I remember,” Clinton said, recounting the conversation that took place around 2002 or 2003.

“Do you recall whether President Trump elaborated at all on the great times that he had with Jeffrey Epstein?” he was asked.

“No and I took, and at the time I took no, I didn’t put any, you know, sexual spin on it,” Clinton said.

Later in the deposition, Clinton told lawmakers he had “no information that [Trump] did anything wrong” based on their brief interaction.

“The only conversation I had with President Trump about this was in the early 2000s, and I have no information that he did anything wrong. I just want it all out there. I want everybody to get it all out there and let everybody see where we are,” Clinton said.

Clinton was also asked about whether he believed Ghislaine Maxwell deserved a pardon from Trump. Clinton claimed that Maxwell’s case was “really hard” for him because he was friendly with her but acknowledged she “has to be punished.”

“I don’t think I should comment on that. I don’t know anything about President Trump other than what I’ve already told. And I thought it was a mistake to pardon everybody in the Jan. 6 case,” he said. “I think that this thing was really hard for me when it came out because I, you know, we had been friendly with Ghislaine. I was sad but, it had, it was terrible what she did and she has to be punished.”

‘I’m here to offer what little I know’

The former president began his appearance by acknowledging that the Oversight Committee’s desire to question him was justified while also distancing himself from Epstein.

“Through my brief acquaintance with Jeffrey Epstein, though it ended years before his crimes came to light, and though I never witnessed during our limited interactions any indication of what was going on, I’m here to offer what little I know so I can do my part to prevent something like this from happening again,” Bill Clinton said.

“I think you should have called me. I did take those plane trips with him and you have a right to ask those questions,” he added.

He also criticized the Oversight Committee for subpoenaing and questioning Hillary Clinton, arguing she had nothing to do with Epstein.

“I have to just say one personal thing. Since Hillary came in yesterday, she had nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein. Nothing,” he said.

In prepared opening remarks Clinton denied any knowledge of the crimes committed by Epstein, going on to say making his wife Hillary Clinton testify “was simply not right.”

In his statement as released, he stated that he would often say, “I do not recall” throughout his questioning because the events were “all a long time ago.”

“I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong,” Clinton said, according to the statement.

Neither Bill Clinton nor Hillary Clinton has been accused of wrongdoing and both deny having any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.

No Epstein survivor or associate has ever made a public allegation of wrongdoing or inappropriate behavior by the former president or his wife in connection with his prior relationship with Epstein.

Bill Clinton said in his opening statement that he had “no idea of the crimes Epstein was committing.”

The Clintons were subpoenaed to appear under oath in front of the committee for a deposition in January, but failed to comply, arguing the subpoenas were without legal merit. Rather, they proposed a four-hour transcribed interview instead.

Following the Clintons’ refusal to appear, the Oversight Committee passed the contempt resolution with nine Democrats voting in favor of it, teeing it up for a full House vote.

At the last minute, just before the resolution was to be voted on in the House, the Clintons agreed to sit for a deposition, postponing further consideration of a contempt vote.