House panel releases videos of Bill and Hillary Clinton answering questions about Epstein

Bill Clinton tries to distance himself from Epstein in videos released from his testimony last week 1 of 4 | President Bill Clinton, right, with Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton, at the 92nd Street Y, May 4, 2023, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File) 2 of 4 | Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., speaks outside the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center where former President Bill Clinton was testifying before U.S. House lawmakers as part of a congressional investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026, in Chappaqua, N.Y. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis) 3 of 4 | Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks outside the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center, after testifying before U.S. House lawmakers as part of a congressional investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, in Chappaqua, N.Y. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) 4 of 4 | President Clinton makes a statement as first lady Hillary Clinton looks on at the White House, Dec. 19, 1998 in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, file) 1 of 4 President Bill Clinton, right, with Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton, at the 92nd Street Y, May 4, 2023, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. 2 of 4 Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., speaks outside the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center where former President Bill Clinton was testifying before U.S. House lawmakers as part of a congressional investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026, in Chappaqua, N.Y. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. 3 of 4 Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks outside the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center, after testifying before U.S. House lawmakers as part of a congressional investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, in Chappaqua, N.Y. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. 4 of 4 President Clinton makes a statement as first lady Hillary Clinton looks on at the White House, Dec. 19, 1998 in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, file) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year] Washington (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton distanced himself themselves from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in closed-door depositions with lawmakers, according to videos that were released Monday by a House committee. The recordings of the depositions, which spanned hours over two days last week, show how Bill Clinton told the committee that he had ended his relationship with Epstein years before the financier entered a 2008 guilty plea to soliciting prostitution from an underage girl. Hillary Clinton told the committee she never even recalled meeting Epstein. Both closed-door interviews before the House Oversight Committee were taken under oath Thursday and Friday.The Clintons’ testimony came as lawmakers are trying to meet demands for a reckoning over Epstein, who killed himself in 2019 in New York while facing charges for sex trafficking and abusing underage girls. High-status men around the world have been forced into resignations because of revelations about their relationships with Epstein, but so far there are few signs in the U.S. of serious legal consequences coming. The former Democratic president said he first remembered meeting Epstein when he flew aboard the financier’s private jet in 2002 for the Clintons’ humanitarian work, and they parted ways the year after. “There’s nothing that I saw when I was around him that made me realize he was trafficking women,” he told the committee.Epstein visited the White House numerous times during Clinton’s presidency and there are photos of them shaking hands. Clinton told lawmakers he did not recall those interactions. Democrats and Republicans question Bill ClintonBill Clinton faced searching questions both from Republicans and Democrats about photos of the former president that have been released as part of the case files on Epstein. In response to a Democratic lawmakers’ questions about a photo that showed him in a pool with a woman whose face was redacted, the former president said he did not know the woman and did not engage in sexual activity with her.He said the photo was from a trip to Brunei for charitable work and a number of people in their travel party were swimming.Whether the subject was a note Clinton wrote for Epstein’s 50th birthday or their travel together for the Clinton Foundation, he described their relationship as little more than “cordial.” “We were friendly, but I didn’t know him well enough to say we were friends,” he said.Asked by Republicans whether they had talked about young women or girls together, Clinton responded emphatically: “No.”What Bill Clinton said about TrumpOne line of questioning stirred up curiosity from lawmakers, and that was what Clinton had to say about President Donald Trump. He made clear he believed it was important for anyone, including presidents, to come forward and testify to their knowledge of Epstein.Clinton also shared how he and Trump had briefly discussed Epstein at a charity golf tournament more than 20 years ago. He said Trump had never “said anything to me to make me think he was involved in anything improper with regard to Epstein,” but also remarked that those two men had a falling-out over a real estate deal. Republican lawmakers left the deposition pointing to Clinton’s words and arguing that it showed there is no evidence that Trump ever did anything wrong in his own relationship with Epstein. Democrats, meanwhile, said Clinton’s testimony counters what Trump has said more recently about why he and Epstein had a falling-out. Trump has told reporters they had a disagreement because Epstein had hired people away from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.