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Republicans on the House Oversight Committee have released video of depositions with former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton conducted as part of the panel’s investigation into the Jeffrey Epstein files.
The Clintons were deposed separately last week behind closed doors, testimony that came after they unsuccessfully fought a subpoena by the Republican-controlled committee. The pair ultimately agreed to sit for hours of depositions after they were threatened with contempt of Congress charges.
Over hours of testimony, the Clintons both denied knowledge of Epstein’s crimes prior to his pleading guilty in 2008 to state charges in Florida for soliciting prostitution from an underage girl.
“I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong,” the former president said in an opening statement shared ahead of his deposition Friday in the Clintons’ hometown of Chappaqua, N.Y.
While neither Clinton has been accused of any wrongdoing, Bill Clinton shows up several times in the trove of Epstein records that has been released by the committee, including in photos.
The former president has said he cut ties with Epstein long before his 2008 conviction, and that while he did travel on Epstein’s plane, that travel was carried out as part of his humanitarian work for the Clinton Foundation.
In her own testimony on Thursday, Hillary Clinton denied ever having met Epstein. Speaking to reporters after her deposition, Clinton said she answered every one of the committee’s questions as fully as she could, reiterating she had no prior relationship with the convicted sex offender.
“I never met Jeffrey Epstein, never had any connection or communication with him,” she said. Clinton said she did know Epstein’s former associate Ghislaine Maxwell, but described her as a casual acquaintance.
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The Clintons spent weeks fighting the panel’s subpoenas, but the former president says he agreed to testify because, “America was built on the idea that no person is above the law, even presidents – especially presidents.”
That is an argument that Democrats on the committee have seized on, arguing that Clinton’s appearance before the committee sets a precedent that should require President Trump to ultimately answer questions from lawmakers.
Like Clinton, President Trump also appears in the files and similarly denies having had any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes. But Democrats say they have questions for Trump, including why Epstein files related to President Trump are missing from the public record, as NPR has previously reported.
Sam Gringlas contributed to this report
