Videos of Bill Clinton, the former US president, and Hillary Clinton, the former US secretary of state, answering questions about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were released Monday by a House committee investigating the late financier.
The recordings of the depositions, which spanned hours over two days last week, show how both Clintons distanced themselves from Epstein. Bill Clinton told the committee that he had ended his relationship with Epstein years before the financier entered a guilty plea in 2008 to soliciting prostitution from an underage girl.
The former Democratic president said he first remembered meeting Epstein when he flew aboard his private jet in 2002 for the Clintons’ humanitarian work, and they parted ways the year after.
“There’s nothing that I saw when I was around him that made me realize he was trafficking women,” Bill Clinton told the committee.
Epstein visited the White House numerous times during Clinton’s presidency and there are photos of them shaking hands, but Bill Clinton said he did not recall those interactions.
Hillary Clinton said she never even recalled meeting Epstein.
Still, they faced hours of questioning under oath from lawmakers who are searching for accountability for anyone who was aware of or ignored Epstein’s abuse of underage girls.
