Former President Bill Clinton released his opening statement regarding his inclusion in the Epstein Files ahead of his closed-door testimony before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Friday.
Clinton's testimony comes a day after his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testified before the same committee. Hillary Clinton's statement took a slightly more combative tone, criticizing the closed-door nature of the proceedings and challenging the committee to call witnesses who appear repeatedly in the Epstein files. Her statement also did not address her husband's association with Epstein.
Clinton's statement Friday immediately addressed the fact that his wife was called before the committee.
"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 travelled with him nor visited any of his properties. Whether you subpoenaed ten people or 10,000, including her, was simply not right," Clinton wrote.
Whereas Hillary took on the committee's witness choices and omissions head-on, Bill Clinton's statement was more subtle. He opened with a veiled shot at President Trump.
"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," he wrote.
Clinton acknowledged his association with Epstein but said like Hillary said he had no knowledge of any crimes.
"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," he stated. "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."
Clinton then says that his association with Epstein ended long before Epstein's 2008 plea deal for soliciting a minor for prostitution.
"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," Clinton stated.
The Clintons were among those subpoenaed by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The committee began investigating the Epstein case last summer, requesting documents and issuing subpoenas.
Those efforts led to Congress passing the Epstein Files Transparency Act on Nov. 19. Earlier this year, the Justice Department released more than 3.5 million documents related to the case, but millions more documents still have not been released.
In 2019, Epstein was indicted on much more serious sex trafficking charges and killed himself in prison. Epstein's primary accomplice and former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, was convicted of sex trafficking and is serving a 20-year-sentence.
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. pic.twitter.com/0rX8cat5Pu
— Bill Clinton (@BillClinton) February 27, 2026
Here is my opening statement to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee today. pic.twitter.com/NZSF2epcI5
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) February 26, 2026
