'I saw nothing and did nothing wrong', Bill Clinton tells Epstein probe
Bill Clinton has protested his innocence in questioning before a Republican-led committee over his ties to paedophile sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
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In his opening statement, the former Democrat president said he had "no idea" of the crimes the disgraced financier 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 claimed.
He added: "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."
In the last page of Mr Clinton's opening statement, he claimed he has been forced to speak after Epstein hid his crimes from everyone "so well for so long".
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He said: "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.
Mr Clinton refused to speculate, saying 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," he concluded his opening statement by saying.
His questioning by the Republican-controlled House Oversight Committee is taking place behind closed doors and follows testimony given by his wife Hillary on Thursday.
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
Mr Clinton fumed for making his wife testify before the committee, saying:"She had nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein. Nothing. She has no memory of even meeting him."
In her testimony on Thursday, Mrs Clinton urged US politicians to ask Donald Trump questions about his tied to Epstein under oath.
She said that the committee of "elected officials" owed it to the public to “get to the bottom” of reports that the US Department of Justice withheld FBI interviews in which a survivor accuses President Trump of “heinous crimes."
She also said she had no information about the criminal activities of Jeffrey Epstein and his associates."I had no idea about their criminal activities. I do not recall ever encountering Mr Epstein," she said.
During her evidence, she called the Epstein case an ‘institutional failure’ and accused the Trump administration of "abandoning survivors". She said: "I have spent my life advocating for women and girls.
"If you are new to this issue, let me tell you: Jeffrey Epstein was a heinous individual, but he's far from alone.
The Clintons only recently agreed to testify after previously resisting demands to appear before the House Oversight Committee.
The pair initially described the demands for them to speak before the committee as politically motivated, rejecting subpoenas ordering them to testify.