Bill Clinton vowed he had “no idea” of Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes as he faced questions from members of Congress investigating the late sex offender’s offending.
The former president was giving evidence to the House Oversight Committee on Friday over his connections to the disgraced paedophile financier from more than two decades ago.
The closed-door deposition in Chappaqua, New York, marks the first time a former president has been compelled to testify to Congress.
It comes a day after Mr Clinton's wife, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, gave her her own deposition to lawmakers.
'I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong,' Mr Clinton told them as he fumed at Republicans for dragging his wife to testify when she repeatedly told lawmakers she never met Epstein.
Republicans were relishing the opportunity to scrutinise the former Democratic president, who appears in the Epstein files, under oath.
Republican James Comer, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, before the former president’s deposition began, said: “No one's accusing anyone of any wrongdoing but I think the American people have a lot of questions.”
A photograph of Mr Clinton on a plane seated alongside a woman, whose face is redacted, with his arm around her, was released by the Department of Justice as part of the Epstein files.
Another photo showed Mr Clinton and Ghislaine Maxwell, who was jailed for 20 years for sex trafficking girls for Epstein, in a pool with another person whose face was redacted.
Epstein visited the White House several times during Clinton's presidency, and the pair later made several international trips together for their humanitarian work. Mr Comer claimed the committee has collected evidence that Epstein visited the White House 17 times and that Bill Clinton flew on Epstein's plane 27 times.
Mr Clinton, in his opening statement, which he released on X, said: “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 he 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. pic.twitter.com/0rX8cat5Pu
— Bill Clinton (@BillClinton) February 27, 2026
Appearing in the Epstein files does not mean wrongdoing and the Clintons have not been accused of doing anything wrong.
In the lead-up to the deposition, Mr Clinton insisted he had limited knowledge about Epstein and was unaware of any sexual abuse he committed.
“You’ll often hear me say that I don’t recall,” he said in his opening statement. “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,”
"It doesn’t help you for me to play detective 24 years later”, he wrote.
"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," Ms Clinton said at the conclusion of her deposition on Thursday.
Democrats, who have supported the push to get answers from Bill Clinton, are arguing that it sets a precedent that should also apply to President Donald Trump, a Republican who had his own relationship with Epstein, and also appears multiple times in the Epstein files.
Ms Clinton demanded during her testimony that Trump should be made to also testify under oath to the committee.
