By STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton distanced himself from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in closed-door depositions with lawmakers, according to videos that were released Monday by a House committee.
The recordings of the depositions, which spanned hours over two days last week, show how Bill Clinton told the committee that he had ended his relationship with Epstein years before the financier entered a 2008 guilty plea to soliciting prostitution from an underage girl. Hillary Clinton told the committee she never even recalled meeting Epstein.
Both closed-door interviews before the House Oversight Committee were taken under oath Thursday and Friday.
The Clintons’ testimony came as lawmakers are trying to meet demands for a reckoning over Epstein, who killed himself in 2019 in New York while facing charges for sex trafficking and abusing underage girls. High-status men around the world have been forced into resignations because of revelations about their relationships with Epstein, but so far there are few signs in the U.S. of serious legal consequences coming.
The former Democratic president said he first remembered meeting Epstein when he flew aboard the financier’s private jet in 2002 for the Clintons’ humanitarian work, and they parted ways the year after.
“There’s nothing that I saw when I was around him that made me realize he was trafficking women,” he told the committee.
Epstein visited the White House numerous times during Clinton’s presidency and there are photos of them shaking hands. Clinton told lawmakers he did not recall those interactions.
Democrats and Republicans question Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton faced searching questions both from Republicans and Democrats about photos of the former president that have been released as part of the case files on Epstein. In response to a Democratic lawmakers’ questions about a photo that showed him in a pool with a woman whose face was redacted, the former president said he did not know the woman and did not engage in sexual activity with her.
He said the photo was from a trip to Brunei for charitable work and a number of people in their travel party were swimming. He also said that he was not aware that one young woman who was ostensibly working as a masseuse and gave him a neck massage on one flight was in fact a victim of sexual abuse.
Whether the subject was a note Clinton wrote for Epstein’s 50th birthday or their travel together for the Clinton Foundation, he described their relationship as little more than “cordial.” Bill Clinton described an arrangement with Epstein where the financier provided his private jet for humanitarian trips in exchange for Clinton discussing politics and economics with him.
Larry Summers, who had worked as treasury secretary in Clinton’s administration, helped make that connection, Clinton said. But Clinton said they went separate ways after he sensed that Epstein was not deeply interested in the humanitarian work.
“We were friendly, but I didn’t know him well enough to say we were friends,” he said.
He said he had once visited Epstein’s townhouse in New York City, but said repeatedly he had never visited Epstein’s private island or other properties.
Asked by Republicans whether they had talked about young women or girls together, Clinton responded emphatically: “No.”
Clinton acknowledged he maintained a closer relationship with Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend and confidant. But he maintained that was largely because of close mutual connections. He also said “she has to be punished” for her conviction on sex trafficking charges.
What Bill Clinton said about Trump
One line of questioning stirred up curiosity from lawmakers, and that was what Clinton had to say about President Donald Trump. He made clear he believed it was important for anyone, including presidents, to come forward and testify to their knowledge of Epstein.
Clinton also shared how he and Trump had briefly discussed Epstein at a charity golf tournament more than 20 years ago. He said Trump had never “said anything to me to make me think he was involved in anything improper with regard to Epstein,” but also remarked that those two men had a falling-out over a real estate deal.
Republican lawmakers left the deposition pointing to Clinton’s words and arguing that it showed there is no evidence that Trump ever did anything wrong in his own relationship with Epstein.
Democrats, meanwhile, said Clinton’s testimony counters what Trump has said more recently about why he and Epstein had a falling-out. Trump has told reporters they had a disagreement because Epstein had hired people away from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.