Kamal Ghorui
Republicans on the House Oversight Committee have released video footage of closed-door depositions given by Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton as part of their investigation into the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, bringing hours of previously unseen testimony into the public domain.The recordings show both former Democratic leaders repeatedly distancing themselves from Epstein and denying any knowledge of his criminal conduct. Lawmakers from both parties questioned the pair for roughly four and a half hours each last week in Chappaqua, New York.During his deposition, Bill Clinton was asked whether President Donald Trump should be compelled to testify. “That’s for you to decide,” he replied, before volunteering details of a conversation he said he had with Trump in the early 2000s at a golf course fundraiser. According to Clinton, Trump told him he had fallen out with Epstein over a property deal. “He never said anything to me to make me think he was involved in anything improper,” Clinton said, adding that there was no “sexual spin” to the exchange.
Lawmakers pressed the former president over photographs drawn from justice department files, including an image of him in a hot tub with a woman whose identity was redacted. Clinton said he did not know the woman and denied any sexual activity. He told the panel he believed the photograph was taken in Brunei at the end of an official trip, recalling that he had briefly used a hotel pool at the suggestion of the Sultan before going to bed exhausted. He insisted no children were present and that he had “done nothing wrong”.Clinton also faced questions about his name appearing in flight logs for Epstein’s private plane and Epstein’s appearances in White House visitor records. He acknowledged flying on the aircraft in the early 2000s in connection with foundation work but denied ever visiting Epstein’s private Caribbean island. He maintained he had ended contact before Epstein’s 2008 conviction for soliciting sex from a minor.Hillary Clinton told investigators she had never met or communicated with Epstein and had no knowledge of his activities. In a pointed remark, she suggested lawmakers should question Trump “directly under oath” about his own appearances in Epstein-related files.
Epstein died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide. Democrats have accused Republicans of weaponising the inquiry for political purposes, while the committee says it is seeking accountability from anyone who may have been aware of Epstein’s abuse.
