Former US president Bill Clinton has taken to social media to deliver a statement on his deposition over his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
The 42nd president became the first sitting or former president to testify before members of Congress in more than 40 years, as he faced the House Oversight Committee in their investigation into the paedophile financier.
In a video posted to X, Mr Clinton stated that he had ended his brief acquaintance with Epstein years before his crimes came to light.
“Though I never witnessed during our limited interactions any indication with what was truly going on, I offered the little I do know in the hopes that it would help prevent anything like this from ever happening again.”
Mr Clinton has denied wrongdoing and expressed regret for his association with Epstein.
He targeted Republicans for making his wife Hillary testify the day before, even though Mrs Clinton repeatedly stated she didn’t know Epstein, and never went to his island or his properties.
Her husband said her subpoena was “simply not right”.
He continued: “I had no idea of the crimes Epstein was committing. No matter how many photos they show of me, I have two things that, at the end of the day, matter far more than any interpretation of 20-year-old photos.
“I know what I saw, and more importantly, what I didn’t see. And I know what I did, and more importantly, what I didn’t do. I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong.”
Mr Clinton said he never would have flown on his plane if he had any inkling of what was going on and would’ve turned him in personally if he knew.
“Even with 20/20 hindsight, I saw nothing that ever gave me real pause.”
Mr Clinton was questioned for more than six hours and was also asked about a picture of him in a jacuzzi released as part of the Epstein files.
A person in the room for the deposition said Mr Clinton didn’t know who he was pictured with and said he didn’t have sex with them.
Mr Clinton also repeatedly said during questioning that he never visited Epstein’s private island.
“When the video of my testimony today is released, I hope it will motivate everyone to go in front of Congress to say what they know,” he said.
“I hope it will motivate the Justice Department to finally release all the files and to ensure that this never happens again. The survivors deserve that.”
Read more:
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His hearing took place behind closed doors in Chappaqua, New York state, but Democrats and Republicans on the House Oversight Committee offered some indication of proceedings throughout the day.
Democratic representative Suhas Subramanyam told Sky News’ US correspondent James Matthews that Mr Clinton generally “answered all of our questions” and had been thorough in his answers.
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Republican representative James Comer said Mr Clinton told the committee that incumbent president Donald Trump “has never said anything to make me think he was involved”, but Democratic counterpart Robert Garcia said Mr Clinton brought up “additional information about discussions with President Trump”.
Democrats also say a “new precedent” has been set with Mr Clinton’s testimony, as they continue to ramp up pressure for Mr Trump to testify.
Mr Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein, and says he used to be friends with the convicted sex offender but cut that off before he was accused of sexual abuse.
