Furious Bill explodes after Hillary was forced to testify on Epstein

 Bill Clinton has issued a blistering statement claiming that he 'did nothing wrong' with Jeffrey Epstein as he slammed Republicans for forcing Hillary to testify.

'I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong,' Clinton told lawmakers at a historic closed-door deposition on Friday near his home in Chappaqua, New York.

The former president fumed at Republicans for dragging his wife to testify after Hillary on Thursday repeatedly told lawmakers she never met Epstein.

'Before we start, I have to get personal. You made Hillary come in. She had nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein. Nothing,' Clinton said. 'She has no memory of even meeting him. She neither traveled with him nor visited any of his properties. Whether you subpoenaed 10 people or 10,000, including her was simply not right.'

Clinton signaled that his answers regarding Epstein would echo a phrase synonymous with his scandal-filled presidency: 'I don't recall.'

'You'll often hear me say that I don't recall. That might be unsatisfying. But I'm not going to say something I'm not sure of,' he continued. 

'This was all a long time ago. And I am bound by my oath not to speculate, or to guess. This is not merely for my benefit, but because it doesn't help you for me to play detective 24 years later.'

Lawmakers are grilling Clinton after evidence from the Epstein files revealed new depths of his friendship with the pedophile.

Photos released by Congress and the Department of Justice over the last few months show the former president on a private jet with his arm around a young woman, swimming with Maxwell and relaxing in a hot tub with another unidentified woman. 

During his opening statement on Friday, the former president opened up about growing up in a family plagued with domestic abuse. 

'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.

Clinton's stepfather, Roger Clinton, was an alcoholic who was physically abusive to Clinton's mother, Virginia Kelley. The former president has previously recalled intervening to defend his mother against his stepfather's abuse. 

Epstein visited the Clinton White House at least 17 times between 1993 and 1995 and flew at least 27 times on the pedophile's private jet. 

Read More

BREAKING NEWS
Trump slams Republicans for dragging Clinton to Epstein grilling

'But even with 20/20 hindsight, I saw nothing that ever gave me pause. We are only here because he hid it from everyone so well for so long,' Clinton added. 'And by the time it came to light with his 2008 guilty plea, I had long stopped associating with him.'

Clinton is the first ever former president compelled to testify before Congress against his will. The 79-year-old finally agreed to testify after being threatened with contempt charges. 

The deposition is being held in private, but it is recorded by cameras and the testimony is expected to be released after it is viewed by the Clintons' legal team. 

Republicans have sought to question Clinton about Epstein for years, especially as conspiracy theories arose following Epstein's 2019 suicide in a New York jail cell while he faced sex trafficking charges.

Those calls reached a fever pitch late last year, when the new DOJ photos revealed the president's relationship with Epstein ran deeper than previously reported.

Join the debate

Should former presidents be held fully accountable for the company they keep, no matter how powerful their friends are?

Comment now

In a declaration to lawmakers last month, Clinton admitted flying on Epstein's plane in 2002 and 2003 while he was traveling internationally for the Clinton Foundation.

Clinton said Epstein 'offered a plane that was big enough to accommodate me, my staff and my US Secret Service detail, in support of visiting the Foundation's philanthropic work.'

The former president said he never visited Epstein's private Caribbean island, Little St James, where many of the pedophile's accusers say they were trafficked for abuse.

Maxwell said in an interview with the Justice Department last year that Clinton was never there.

Read More

Hillary Clinton drags Elon Musk into Epstein storm over secret messages about his wife: Hearing in chaos

'I do not recall speaking to Mr Epstein for more than a decade prior to his 2019 arrest' Clinton's declaration said.

Hillary said after her deposition: 'I think the chronology of the connection that he had with Epstein ended several years before anything about Epstein's criminal activities came to light.'

James Comer has pledged extensive questioning of the former president. He claimed that Hillary had repeatedly deferred questions about Epstein to her husband.

Epstein was found hanged in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence as his only co-conspirator ever convicted.

Read More

BREAKING NEWS
Chaos erupts as Hillary Clinton HALTS her Epstein testimony after MAGA lawmaker took photo of closed-door deposition

Democrats argue that it sets a precedent that should also apply to Donald Trump, a Republican who had his own relationship with Epstein. 

Only four ex-presidents - Trump, Harry Truman, John Tyler and John Quincy Adams - and one sitting president, Richard Nixon, had been formally subpoenaed by Congress to testify. Trump, Truman, Nixon and Quincy Adams all refused to comply, while Tyler agreed to appear.

The Supreme Court has never definitively ruled on whether a president can be compelled to give testimony to Congress, though the DOJ has historically argued that presidents have 'testimonial immunity' to protect the separation of powers.

'We're demanding immediately that we ask President Trump to testify in front of our committee and be deposed in front of Oversight Republicans and Democrats,' Representative Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the committee, said Thursday.

Comer has pushed back on that idea, saying that Trump has answered questions on Epstein from the press.

Bill Clinton's full statement:  

Good morning. Welcome to Chappaqua.

I’m here today for two reasons. The first is that I love my country. And America was built upon the idea that no person is above the law, even Presidents—especially Presidents.

Democracy requires every person to play their part, and I hope that by being here today, we can bring ourselves a little further away from the brink and back to being a country where we can disagree with one another civilly—where the search for truth and justice outweighs the partisan urge to score points and create spectacle. I’ll do my part, and I hope you’ll do yours.

The second reason I’m here is that the girls and women whose lives Jeffrey Epstein destroyed deserve not only justice, but healing. They’ve been waiting too long for both. Though my brief acquaintance with Epstein ended years before his crimes came to light, and though I never witnessed during our limited interactions any indication of what was truly going on, I am here to offer what little I know so that it might prevent anything like this from ever happening again.

But before we start, I have to get personal. You made Hillary come in. She had nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein. Nothing. She has no memory of even meeting him. She neither traveled with him nor visited any of his properties. Whether you subpoenaed 10 people or 10,000, including her was simply not right.

We began this hearing with me raising my hand and taking an oath to tell the truth. But everyone has a responsibility to be honest with those they represent. Whether you raised your right hand or not, each and every one of us owes nothing less than truth and accuracy to the American people.

Now, let me say what you’re going to hear from me.

First, I had no idea of the crimes Epstein was committing. No matter how many photos you show me, I have two things that at the end of the day matter more than your interpretation of those 20-year-old photos.

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.

I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong.

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.

But even with 20/20 hindsight, I saw nothing that ever gave me pause. We are only here because he hid it from everyone so well for so long. And by the time it came to light with his 2008 guilty plea, I had long stopped associating with him.

You’ll often hear me say that I don’t recall. That might be unsatisfying. But I’m not going to say something I’m not sure of. This was all a long time ago. And I am bound by my oath not to speculate, or to guess. This is not merely for my benefit, but because it doesn’t help you for me to play detective 24 years later.

Since I am under oath, I will not falsely state that I am looking forward to your questions. But I am ready to answer them to the best of my abilities, consistent with the facts as I know them: the legitimate, the logical, and even the outlandish.

With that Mr. Chairman, fire away.