‘Just because he let me use his airplane’: Bill Clinton clarifies Epstein ties during deposition

CHAPPAQUA, NEW YORK: Former President Bill Clinton has clarified his stance regarding whether he was contacted by law enforcement about his ties to convicted offender Jeffrey Epstein and accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.

Republicans on the House Oversight Committee released videos of the depositions with Bill and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday, March 2, as part of the panel’s investigation into Epstein. The Clintons were questioned separately behind closed doors after unsuccessfully fighting a subpoena issued by the Republican-controlled committee.

Bill Clinton once thought law enforcement might contact him regarding Jeffrey Epstein

During the deposition, a committee member asked Bill Clinton, “Mr President, for the record, have you ever been contacted by any law enforcement agency concerning Jeffrey Epstein or Ghislaine Maxwell?”

The former president replied, “As far as I know, no, not as far as I remember. Back in 2008, I sort of thought somebody might ask me something. Because I — and I was glad this had come out since it had happened, but I don't believe anybody ever did.”

When asked to elaborate on why he thought someone might question him, Bill responded, “Just because he let me use his airplane."

Pressed again about whether any law enforcement agency had contacted him, Bill said, “I don't — I don't believe any law enforcement agency has ever asked me and I don't — I didn't know enough to volunteer anything.”

A committee member also questioned whether Epstein or Maxwell had ever informed him that they were working with any intelligence service of any nation, including the United States, or whether he had ever suspected them of such affiliations. He replied, “I did not.”

Bill Clinton on his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein

Over hours of testimony, both Bill and Hillary Clinton denied knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein's crimes prior to his pleading guilty in 2008 to state charges in Florida. In an opening statement shared ahead of his deposition in the Clintons' hometown of Chappaqua, he stated, “I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong.”

While neither Clinton has been accused of any wrongdoing, Bill appears several times in the trove of Epstein records released by the committee, including in photographs.

The former president told the committee he met Epstein in 2001 or 2002 after leaving the White House. He said he was introduced to Epstein by Larry Summers, his onetime Treasury Secretary, whose own ties to the financier have come under scrutiny in recent months.

Bill described his relationship with Epstein as “cordial,” but said he would not describe him as a friend. He also acknowledged traveling on Epstein’s plane, explaining that the travel was connected to his humanitarian efforts for the Clinton Foundation.

He said, “I thought we had an understanding about the airplane that — that he would let me use the airplane to set up my AIDS program around the world if I agreed to talk to him about economics and politics.”