“I would have turned him in myself,” Bill Clinton says — as Epstein deposition statement goes viral
CHAPPAQUA, N.Y. — Former President Bill Clinton said Friday that he had no knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse and would have reported the financier to authorities if he had “any inkling” of what was happening, as Clinton sat for a closed-door deposition before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
“As someone who grew up in a home with domestic abuse, not only would I not have flown on his plane if I had any inkling of what he was doing — I would have turned him in myself and led the call for justice for his crimes, not sweetheart deals,” Clinton said in a prepared opening statement released publicly as the deposition began.
The deposition is part of a Republican-led committee investigation into Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, with lawmakers seeking testimony from a list of high-profile figures connected to the disgraced financier. The committee said Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton agreed to appear after months of dispute over subpoenas and potential contempt proceedings.
Clinton’s testimony, conducted behind closed doors at his home in Chappaqua, marked a rare moment: The Associated Press reported it is the first time a former president has been compelled to testify to Congress.
In his opening statement, Clinton also criticized the committee for calling Hillary Clinton to testify, saying it was “simply not right,” and insisted she “had nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein” and did not remember meeting him. He repeated his broader denial, saying, “I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong,” and said his “brief acquaintance” with Epstein ended years before Epstein’s crimes became public.
Epstein, once a well-connected money manager, pleaded guilty in 2008 to state prostitution-related charges and later died in a federal jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Maxwell was convicted in 2021 of helping Epstein recruit and groom underage girls.
The committee has said it plans to release video of the depositions publicly after questioning concludes.
