Former President of the United States, Bill Clinton on Friday testified before lawmakers of the House Oversight Committee over late sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein.
Addressing lawmakers in a closed-door deposition in Chappaqua, New York, Clinton denied any knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking ring or criminal activities.
Pan-Atlantic Kompass reports that Clinton is the first sitting or former president to testify before members of Congress in more than 40 years.
Addressing the press before the deposition of the former President, Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., said: “It’s a historical day for the United States Congress.
“No one is accusing anyone of any wrongdoing, but I think the American people have a lot of questions and our House Oversight Committee is committed to getting answers.”
In his opening address, Clinton stated: “Before we start, I have to get personal.
“You made Hillary come in. She had nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein. Nothing. She has no memory of even meeting him.”
He added that “as someone who grew up in a home with domestic abuse”, he would never have flown on Epstein’s plane if he “had any inkling of what he was doing”.
“I would have turned him in myself,” Clinton said.
Speaking further, Clinton stated that he was in Epstein’s files because the late sex offender hid his crimes from everyone “so well for so long”.
“I saw nothing, I did nothing wrong,” Clinton said.
“You’ll often hear me say that I don’t recall. That might be unsatisfying. But I’m not going to say something I’m not sure of. This was all a long time ago. And I am bound by my oath not to speculate, or to guess,” Clinton added.
“It doesn’t help you for me to play detective 24 years later.”
He finished his statement by saying: “Since I am under oath, I will not falsely state that I am looking forward to your questions. But I am ready to answer them to the best of my abilities.”
Pan-Atlantic Kompass had reports that Bill Clinton testified before the U.S lawmakers a day after his wife, Hillary was deposed on her knowledge about Epstein.
In her opening statement Thursday, Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, accused the committee of focusing on her and her husband “to distract attention from President Trump’s actions and cover them up despite legitimate calls for answers.”
“If this committee is serious about learning the truth about Epstein’s trafficking crimes, it would not rely on press gaggles to get answers from our current president on his involvement; it would ask him directly under oath about the tens of thousands of times he shows up in the Epstein files,” she said.
Trump, who said he had a falling-out with Epstein before he was first charged criminally in 2006, has denied any wrongdoing, and authorities have not accused him of any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.
