Former President Bill Clinton faced intense questioning Thursday in a historic closed-door deposition before the House Oversight Committee over his past association with convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
But while Republicans pressed Clinton about decades-old photos and flight logs, Democrats used the moment to escalate calls for President Donald Trump to testify under oath as well.
Clinton opened his testimony with a firm denial of any wrongdoing.
“I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong,” he told lawmakers.
The former president, who has not been accused of any crimes related to Epstein, acknowledged that he had a “brief acquaintance” with the disgraced financier in the early 2000s and flew on his plane several times after leaving office. However, Clinton said he cut off contact years before Epstein’s 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor and long before his 2019 federal sex trafficking charges.
“No matter how many photos you show me,” Clinton said, “I know what I saw — and more importantly, what I didn’t see. I know what I did — and more importantly, what I didn’t do.”
He added that even with hindsight, he never saw any indication of Epstein’s crimes.
“As someone who grew up in a home with domestic abuse, not only would I have not flown on his plane if I had any inkling of what he was doing — I would have turned him in myself,” Clinton said.
The deposition marked the first time a former president has been compelled to testify before Congress. It followed more than six hours of testimony from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton a day earlier.
Clinton also defended his wife during his opening remarks, saying she “had nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein” and that bringing her in was “simply not right.”
Democrats Shift Focus to Trump
As Republicans questioned Clinton, Democrats made clear they believe the investigation should not stop there.
Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the committee, said Republicans have now set a precedent by forcing a former president to testify — and that standard should apply equally to Trump.
“If Republicans are serious about getting to the truth, then Donald Trump should testify under oath as well,” Garcia said. “He appears throughout the Epstein files and the American people deserve answers.”
Trump has denied any wrongdoing related to Epstein and said recently, “I did nothing.”
Democrats are also demanding clarity over what they describe as missing Justice Department materials related to Epstein and whether any information has been withheld from public view.
“We want a serious investigation,” Garcia said ahead of the deposition. “Anyone — Republican or Democrat, no matter how powerful — should answer questions.”
House Oversight Chair James Comer said the committee expanded its list of questions after Hillary Clinton deferred several inquiries to her husband. Republicans focused heavily on Clinton’s documented flights on Epstein’s plane and Epstein’s visits to the White House during Clinton’s presidency.
Clinton cautioned lawmakers that many of the events in question occurred more than 20 years ago and said he would likely respond “I don’t recall” to some details.
“The girls and women whose lives Jeffrey Epstein destroyed deserve justice and healing,” Clinton said. “I am here to offer what little I know so that it might prevent anything like this from ever happening again.”
With both parties digging in, the Epstein investigation is rapidly becoming a broader political showdown — one that now includes growing pressure from Democrats to bring Trump before Congress under oath.
