Former US President Bill Clinton and ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were deposed separately behind closed doors last week as part of the Republican-led House Oversight Committee’s investigation into files related to the late American financier and convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Officials released the hours-long footage of the former first couple’s individual testimonies on Monday (US time), March 2.
Bill Clinton’s appearance before the Republican-controlled committee on Friday marked the first time a former president has been compelled to testify before Congress under a subpoena. Throughout their respective depositions, which stretched out for over four hours, the Clintons denied having had knowledge of Epstein’s crimes prior to his pleading guilty in 2008 to state charges for soliciting prostitution from an underage girl.
Longtime lawyers and allies David Kendall and Cheryl Mills accompanied the Clintons for their depositions. While Kendall has been the couple’s trusted personal attorney for decades, Mills was the deputy White House counsel during Bill’s presidency and chief of staff to Hillary at the State Department.
Both Kendall and Mills were also part of the legal team that defended the ex-president in his 1999 Senate impeachment trial. He was later acquitted.
Note: Although Bill Clinton particularly appears in the Epstein Files released by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) on several accounts, including photos, neither he nor his wife, Hillary, has been formally accused of any wrongdoing in connection with the deceased financier’s crimes. It was his repeated mention in the files that triggered calls for the couple to be deposed.
Did Clinton visit Epstein’s island?
When confronted by the committee’s Democratic Rep Melanie Stansbury about reports that he had travelled to Epstein’s infamous island, the ex-president repeatedly denied the claims. He also went on to deny a report that suggested he had been to Epstein’s home during his time as the US president.
Bill Clinton told the committee that he was first introduced to Epstein by his former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, ultimately leading to his meeting with the financier in 2001 or 2002 after he left the White House.
Summers himself faced the brunt of being mentioned in the Epstein Files, as he recently resigned from his positions at Harvard University because of his association with the deceased convict.
The former president recalled that shortly after he left office, Summers told him about “a man named Jeffrey Epstein” who had made a multi-million-dollar contribution to brain research.
As per Clinton’s testimony, Summers described Epstein as “an information-hungry person” with a “massive plane” who “wanted to spend some time talking to me about economics and politics.” In exchange, Epstein would let Clinton fly on his private plane for humanitarian trips.
In his deposition, Clinton affirmed that he cut ties with Jeffrey Epstein before his 2008 conviction. He further insisted that their past relationship was “cordial” and that he wouldn’t describe the sex offender as a friend.
“I thought we had an understanding about the airplane,” Clinton said during the hearing. “That he would let me use the airplane to set up my AIDS programs around the world if I agreed to talk to him for an hour about economics and politics on every long leg. I kept my word, and he seemed to honour his.”
Thereafter, Clinton said that he eventually realised that Epstein didn’t share the same sentiments about humanitarian goals. And so, after embarking on about a half-dozen trips on his jet over a few years, Clinton claimed he stopped because his own foundation had taken off, which subsequently presented him with other offers of transportation.
Claiming that he only found out about Epstein’s crimes in 2008, the year he was prosecuted, Clinton asserted, “There was nothing that I saw when I was around him that made me realise that he was trafficking women.”
Trump boasted of ‘great times’ with Epstein: Bill Clinton
US President Donald Trump has long maintained that he had a falling-out with Epstein in the mid-2000s after knowing him like everyone else he knew in his social circle in Palm Beach, Florida, at the time. He has often reiterated that he had no knowledge of the financier’s criminal acts.
When asked whether Trump should be called in to testify in the investigation, Clinton told the committee, “That’s for you to decide.” Recounting a 20-year-old conversation with Trump, Clinton said that he previously discussed Epstein with the Republican leader at one of his golf courses.
By that time, Trump had already cut off ties with Epstein over a “property deal,” Clinton testified. “He said, ‘You know, we had some great times together over the years, but we fell out all because of a real estate deal,'” the ex-president added. “And he said, ‘I’m sorry it happened.’ That’s all.”
Clinton also affirmed that Trump never told him anything that made him think he was associated with “anything improper” in relation to Epstein.
Clinton reacts to hot tub photo in Epstein Files
Midway through the hearing, the much-talked-about “hot tub” photo was brought up. The picture released as part of the DOJ’s trove of Epstein Files showed the former president lounging in a hot tub with someone whose face has been redacted. Some other pictures in the library that appear to have been taken at the same location even showed Epstein’s ex-girlfriend and accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, in the pool area with Clinton.
When asked about the “context” and “details” of the photo, he said, “I don’t think I ever knew the photo was taken.”
He further added that he was “almost sure” it was captured in Brunei following a “long” Asia trip. Name-dropping the Sultan of Brunei, Clinton recounted that the leader had recommended a hotel after offering his help with the Clinton Global Initiative. Recalling what the sultan told him at the time, Clinton said, “I want you to stay at this hotel and I hope you will use the pool. So I did. And then I got out, and went to bed, exhausted.”
Clinton repeatedly said that he had no idea who the other person in the picture was. “I sat in the hot tub for five minutes, or whatever it was, and I got up and went to bed,” he added.
Pizzagate theory surfaces
‘Pizzagate,’ aka the notorious conspiracy theory that had falsely suggested that Democrats were behind a child sex trafficking ring operating out of a pizzeria’s basement in Washington DC, was also brought up during the deposition.
When the topic was raised by Republican Rep Lauren Boebert, an exasperated Hillary Clinton firmly stated, “Pizzagate was totally made up. It was an outrageous allegation that ended up hurting a number of people, that caused a deranged young man to show up with his assault rifle and shoot up a local pizzeria.”
Dramatic Hillary Clinton moment during hearing: I’m done!
In addition to being repeatedly pressed about Pizzagate, Hillary was also asked the same question as her husband: Should Trump be asked to testify before the committee about Epstein?
Contrary to Bill’s answer, she said, “He’d be on my list.”
About an hour into her deposition, Hillary almost stormed out after a photo from the hearing was leaked. Video footage captures her blatant outburst after being told about the lead: “I’m done with this. If you guys are doing that, I am done. You can hold me in contempt from now until the cows come home.”
The former State Secretary also maintained through her hours-long deposition that she had no memories of ever crossing paths with Epstein. As for having any possible association with Ghislaine Maxwell, Hillary Clinton she said the financier’s ex-girlfriend only “casually, as an acquaintance.”