By Andy Sullivan and Richard Cowan
Feb 27 (Reuters) – Bill Clinton told lawmakers on Friday that he “saw nothing that gave me pause” when he spent time with Jeffrey Epstein, as the former president gave closed-door testimony about his relationship with the late sex offender.
Clinton’s closed-door appearance before the House of Representatives Oversight Committee marked the first time a current or former president has been compelled to testify before Congress.
Democrats on the panel said President Donald Trump should be subpoenaed as well, but the committee’s Republican chairman, James Comer said that was not going to happen.
Both men socialized with Epstein before his 2008 conviction of soliciting prostitution from a minor. Both have repeatedly said they did not see any evidence of sex trafficking, and neither have been accused by authorities of criminal activity related to the late financier, who entertained a long list of business and financial leaders at his lavish residences in New York, Florida and the Caribbean.
In his testimony, Clinton told the committee that he would not have flown on the late financier’s plane if he had known about his alleged sex trafficking of underage girls, and would have reported him if he did.
“We are only here because he hid it from everyone so well for so long,” Clinton said, speaking near his main residence in Chappaqua, New York.
Clinton flew on Epstein’s plane several times in the early 2000s after he left office, and a tranche of millions of documents released by the Justice Department includes photos of Clinton with women whose faces are redacted.
“I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong,” Clinton said.
Comer described the hearing as cordial and said Clinton was cooperative. “He’s a charming individual, obviously,” he said.
Clinton said the committee should not have subpoenaed his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who told the panel on Thursday that she did not remember ever meeting Epstein and had nothing to share about his sex crimes.
She said she was also asked about UFOs and a 2016-era conspiracy theory during the seven-hour session.
Comer said some of Hillary Clinton’s answers had been inconsistent and would be examined for possible perjury.
He did not rule out the possibility of subpoenaing Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who visited Epstein’s Caribbean island after his 2008 conviction. “Stay tuned on that,” he said.
Democrats said the investigation would not be credible if it does not examine Trump’s role.
“President Clinton’s presence here today under oath highlights the Donald Trump-sized gaping hole in Chairman Comer’s investigation,” said Democratic Representative James Walkinshaw of Virginia.
Democrats are also accusing Trump’s Justice Department of withholding records of a woman who accused Trump of sexually abusing her when she was a minor. The Justice Department has said it is looking at the material and will publish it if appropriate, and has also warned that the material includes unfounded accusations about Trump.
Trump’s name appears frequently in the Epstein files. He socialized extensively with Epstein in the 1990s and 2000s and says he broke off ties before Epstein’s 2008 conviction. Authorities have not accused him of criminal wrongdoing in connection with Epstein, but the association has dogged him for decades.
At the White House, Trump expressed sympathy for Clinton, a Democrat.
“I don’t like seeing him deposed,” Trump said. “But they certainly went after me more than that.”
The Clintons agreed to testify near their home in Chappaqua after the House threatened to hold them in contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate. Some Democrats supported the move.
Both Clintons accuse Republicans of conducting a partisan exercise designed to protect Trump from scrutiny, noting that others in the inquiry were allowed to submit written statements rather than testify in person.
Epstein died in jail in 2019 while facing federal sex-trafficking crimes. His death was ruled a suicide.
(Reporting by Richard Cowan and Andy Sullivan; Additional reporting by Katharine Jackson; Editing by Sergio Non and Alistair Bell)
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