Former US President Bill Clinton testified he had no knowledge of the sex crimes of the late Jeffrey Epstein, according to a video released by a US congressional committee on Monday.
The recording of the sworn depositions to the House Oversight Committee spanned more than two days last week.
What did Clinton tell the lawmakers?
During the deposition, Clinton said he had parted ways with Epstein years before the financier’s 2008 guilty plea for soliciting prostitution from an underage girl.
Clinton said he first met Epstein when he boarded the financier’s private jet in 2002 for the Clintons’ humanitarian work, but that their association ended about a year later.
“There’s nothing that I saw when I was around him that made me realize he was trafficking women,” he told the committee.
Hillary Clinton, who attended her own deposition a day earlier, told the committee she does not recall meeting Epstein. The Clintons’ depositions come amid growing demands for accountability over the Epstein files, though neither has been accused of wrongdoing.
Clinton says Trump told him of ‘some great times’ with Epstein
Clinton also recounted a conversation with Donald Trump from before Trump became president. He told lawmakers that Trump told him he had “some great times” with Epstein.
“Somehow, [Donald Trump] knew I had flown in Jeffrey Epstein’s aircraft,” Clinton said. “He said, ‘You know, we had some great times together over the years, but we fell out all because of a real estate deal.’”
Clinton added that Trump had never said anything to make him think Trump was involved in anything improper with regard to Epstein.
Both Clinton and Trump have acknowledged associations with Epstein prior to his 2008 plea and have said they saw no evidence of sex trafficking.
Edited by: Zac Crellin