In a first-of-its-kind moment on Capitol Hill, former U.S. President Bill Clinton sat for hours of closed-door testimony before the House Oversight Committee, answering questions about his past association with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Clinton’s message was blunt: during the years he crossed paths with Epstein, he witnessed nothing that raised alarms.
“I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong,” he told lawmakers, according to remarks delivered near his residence in Chappaqua, New York. He added that had he known of any crimes involving underage girls, he would have reported them and never boarded Epstein’s private jet.
The testimony marks the first time a current or former American president has been compelled to testify before Congress. The appearance came under threat of contempt after both Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton initially resisted in-person questioning.
Clinton acknowledged flying multiple times on Epstein’s plane in the early 2000s, after leaving office. Recently disclosed Justice Department records include photographs of him alongside women whose identities have been redacted. Still, he insisted that Epstein’s criminal conduct was concealed from him and others. “We are only here because he hid it from everyone so well for so long,” he said.
Epstein, who moved easily among business magnates and political heavyweights, was convicted in 2008 of soliciting prostitution from a minor. He later faced federal sex-trafficking charges before his death in a New York jail in 2019, which authorities ruled a suicide.
The hearing quickly turned political.
Committee Chairman James Comer described Clinton as cooperative and cordial, even calling him “a charming individual.” But he rejected calls from Democrats to subpoena President Donald Trump, who also had past social ties with Epstein.
Both Clinton and Trump socialized with Epstein in the 1990s and early 2000s. Trump has said he severed ties before Epstein’s 2008 conviction and has denied any wrongdoing. His name appears throughout documents connected to the Epstein investigation, though authorities have not charged him with crimes linked to the financier.
Democrats argue that excluding Trump from sworn testimony undermines the inquiry’s credibility. Some have also accused the Justice Department of withholding records related to allegations involving Trump. The department has said it is reviewing materials and will release what is appropriate, cautioning that some documents contain unverified claims.
Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton told lawmakers in her own session that she did not recall meeting Epstein and had no information about his crimes. She reportedly fielded wide-ranging questions, including some unrelated to Epstein.
The broader investigation remains a volatile mix of decades-old relationships, sealed files, and present-day political rivalry — with Clinton’s testimony now etched into congressional history as an unprecedented spectacle: a former president under oath, revisiting a shadow cast long after both men left the social circuit.
