former president of the united states bill clinton He told lawmakers on Friday that he “did nothing wrong” in his relationship with the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Lawmakers questioned him for hours about his ties to the disgraced financier more than two decades ago, and he said he saw no signs of sexual abuse by Epstein.
“I saw nothing and I did nothing wrong,” the former president said in opening statements posted on social media at the start of his testimony.
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Bill Clinton testifies in Epstein investigation
The testimony in Chappaqua, New York, was the first time a former president has been asked to testify before Congress. A day earlier, Clinton’s wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, testified before lawmakers.
In a prepared statement, Clinton told the House Oversight Committee that he would never have flown on the late financier’s plane if he had known about the alleged trafficking of underage girls, and said he would have reported him if he had known.
“The reason we are here is because he hid it from everyone for so long,” Clinton said.
Clinton said he had “no knowledge of Epstein’s crimes” and called their relationship a “brief acquaintance” that ended years before Epstein’s conduct became public.
James Cuomo, the Republican chairman of the House panel investigating Epstein, said before Clinton’s testimony that he was eager to “ask a lot of questions.” Meanwhile, Democrats on the committee reiterated their call for U.S. President Donald Trump to also be questioned.
Clinton did not mention Trump by name but said “no one is above the law, not even the president, especially the president.”
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Hillary Clinton’s testimony targets Trump
Clinton’s appearance before Congress followed testimony from his wife, Hillary Clinton, who said she knew nothing about the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein or Ghislaine Maxwell.
“I had no knowledge of their criminal activities. I do not recall ever meeting Mr. Epstein,” she said in opening remarks posted on social media. The private testimony ended Thursday after more than six hours, during which she reportedly answered all questions.
She also accused the Republican-led panel of trying to divert attention from Trump’s ties to Epstein.
“This systemic failure was designed to protect a political party and a public official rather than seek truth and justice for the victims and survivors and the public who also want to get to the bottom of this. My heart breaks for the survivors. I am angry for them,” she said.
According to the opinion of the institution
