Former President Bill Clinton told members of the House Oversight Committee that he never saw the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein do anything that made him “suspicious,” according to video released Monday of last week’s closed-door depositions of the ex-president and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The Republican-led committee questioned each of the Clintons individually last week in their hometown of Chappaqua, New York, as part of an inquiry into the federal government’s handling of investigations into Epstein and his convicted co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell.

The deposition of Bill Clinton on Friday marked the first time a former president was compelled to testify before a congressional committee.

“Did you witness anything unusual with Epstein that would lead you to believe that Epstein was creepy?” he was asked. 

“No, I never saw him do anything that I was suspicious,” Clinton responded.

However, Clinton said he found Epstein to be “odd.”

“I felt friendly toward him, but he was, as I said in my book, odd. There was always something a little holding back. And he, and I could tell,” Clinton said. 

Epstein’s planes

Flight logs from Epstein’s private jets show that Bill Clinton and his entourage took four international trips in 2002 and 2003 on the financier’s Boeing 727 to locations including Bangkok, Brunei, Rwanda, Russia, China and elsewhere, as part of what Clinton has described as trips for the Clinton Foundation, the nonprofit humanitarian organization he founded after he left the presidency in 2001.

Clinton, in his deposition, acknowledged that Epstein was on most of the flights he took using his plane, and claimed that his team spent most of the time onboard preparing for the next stop, sleeping, and playing cards. 

Clinton said he asked Epstein about why he was loaning his private jet, and the disgraced financier claimed he wanted to better understand Clinton’s success as Democratic politician. 

“He said I think you did a good job as president and you managed to get reelected and you’re the first Democrat in 60 years to get reelected. I want to know what happened and I want to understand it,” Clinton said. “And that was it. I mean, he never was, you know, it was never like he was trying to suck up to me or anything. He just was, it was very straightforward. And, but after a while it was obvious that he had done what he intended to do, and he was kind of going through the motions and he didn’t really care about what I really cared about.” 

Epstein’s birthday book

When asked about the note that Bill Clinton wrote for Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday, the former president said he was trying to reflect his belief that Epstein was a curious and interesting person. 

“I thought Epstein was interesting and curious. So, I wrote a letter that I thought reflected that,” Clinton said.

“Can you elaborate on what made him interesting and curious?” Clinton was asked. 

“No more than I’ve already said,” he responded. 

The text of the Clinton’s letter, which was released by the House Oversight Committee, read: ‘Jeffrey — Happy 50th — It’s reassuring isn’t it, to have lasted as long, across all the years of learning and knowing, adventures and [illegible], and also to have your childlike curiosity, the drive to make a difference and the solace of friends — Bill Clinton”

Clinton denied that the letter in any way referenced “inappropriate activities” involving underage girls. 

“I was requested to contribute a nice letter for his birthday book,” he said.  “Not a bad letter.”

Asked, with the benefit of hindsight, if there were things you witnessed that could have suggested that Epstein was trafficking and sexually abusing young women and girls, Clinton, after pausing for a few seconds, replied, “I do not believe so.”

‘I’m here to offer what little I know’

The former president began his appearance by acknowledging that the Oversight Committee’s desire to question him was justified while also distancing himself from Epstein. 

“Through my brief acquaintance with Jeffrey Epstein, though it ended years before his crimes came to light, and though I never witnessed during our limited interactions any indication of what was going on, I’m here to offer what little I know so I can do my part to prevent something like this from happening again,” Bill Clinton said. 

“I think you should have called me. I did take those plane trips with him and you have a right to ask those questions,” he added.

He also criticized the Oversight Committee for subpoenaing and questioning Hillary Clinton, arguing she had nothing to do with Epstein. 

“I have to just say one personal thing. Since Hillary came in yesterday, she had nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein. Nothing,” he said.

During her opening statement Thursday, Hillary Clinton argued that the committee was attempting to protect “one political party and one public official rather than to seek truth and justice for the victims.” 

“You have made little effort to call the people who show up most prominently in the Epstein files. And when you did, not a single Republican member showed up for Les Wexner’s deposition,” she said of the former Epstein associate. “This institutional failure is designed to protect one political party and one public official rather than to seek truth and justice for the victims and survivors as well as inform the public who want to get to the bottom of this matter. “ 

President Donald Trump has denied any wrongdoing related to Epstein. 

“I don’t know how many times I had to say I did not know Jeffrey Epstein. I never went to his island. I never went to his homes, I never went to his offices. So it’s on the record numerous times,” Hillary Clinton told reporters after her closed-door session with the committee concluded Thursday.

In prepared opening remarks Clinton denied any knowledge of the crimes committed by Epstein, going on to say making his wife Hillary Clinton testify “was simply not right.”

In his statement as released, he stated that he would often say, “I do not recall” throughout his questioning because the events were “all a long time ago.”

“I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong,” Clinton said, according to the statement.

Neither Bill Clinton nor Hillary Clinton has been accused of wrongdoing and both deny having any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.

No Epstein survivor or associate has ever made a public allegation of wrongdoing or inappropriate behavior by the former president or his wife in connection with his prior relationship with Epstein.

Bill Clinton said in his opening statement that he had “no idea of the crimes Epstein was committing.”

Bill Clinton’s association with Epstein was first noted publicly in 2002 after reporters learned of the former president’s flight that year on Epstein’s jet for a humanitarian mission to multiple African nations.

Bill Clinton told New York Magazine through a spokesperson at the time that “Jeffrey is both a highly successful financier and a committed philanthropist with a keen sense of global markets and an in-depth knowledge of 21st century science.” 

Flight logs from Epstein’s private jets show that Bill Clinton is listed on 26 total flight “legs” on Epstein’s plane — though many of those legs were parts of the same international trips.

The logs showed that Clinton and his entourage had taken four international trips in 2002 and 2003 on the financier’s Boeing 727 to locations including Bangkok, Brunei, Rwanda, Russia, China and elsewhere. Clinton’s last known trip on Epstein’s plane was in November 2003, according to the logs. The first reports that Epstein was under investigation in Florida for alleged sexual exploitation of minors surfaced in 2005.

None of the flight records from Epstein’s planes that have surfaced in litigation indicate that Clinton was ever aboard for a trip to Epstein’s island. 

The Clintons were subpoenaed to appear under oath in front of the committee for a deposition in January, but failed to comply, arguing the subpoenas were without legal merit. Rather, they proposed a four-hour transcribed interview instead.

Following the Clintons’ refusal to appear, the Oversight Committee passed the contempt resolution with nine Democrats voting in favor of it, teeing it up for a full House vote.

At the last minute, just before the resolution was to be voted on in the House, the Clintons agreed to sit for a deposition, postponing further consideration of a contempt vote.

This is a developing story and will be updated.