Despite hours of interrogation by lawmakers over his ties to the disgraced financier from over 20 years ago, former President Bill Clinton told members of Congress on Friday that he "did nothing wrong" in his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein and saw no indications of his abuse.The former Democratic president posted his opening statement on social media outside the deposition, saying, "I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong."
The former president was forced to testify before Congress for the first time during the closed-door deposition in Chappaqua, New York. It happened the day after former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Clinton's wife, appeared before Congress for her own deposition.

Additionally, Bill Clinton has not been charged with any crimes. However, at a time when men all over the world have been removed from powerful positions for continuing to have ties to Epstein following his 2008 guilty plea to state charges in Florida for soliciting prostitution from an underage girl, lawmakers are debating what accountability looks like in the United States.Before the deposition started Friday, Republican Rep. James Comer, the chair of the House Oversight Committee, stated, "Men and women of great wealth and power from all over the world have been able to get away with a lot of heinous crimes and they haven't been held accountable and they haven't even had to answer questions."

Hillary Clinton told lawmakers on Thursday that she didn't even remember meeting Epstein and didn't know how he had sexually assaulted young girls. Even though it was in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Bill Clinton will still have to respond to inquiries about his well-documented relationship with Epstein and his ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell.
Hillary Clinton stated on Thursday that she anticipated her husband would testify that, at the time of their meeting, he was unaware of Epstein's sexual assault.
Republicans were eager to examine the former Democratic president under oath.Comer stated, "I believe the American people have a lot of questions, but nobody is accusing anyone of any wrongdoing."

For years, Republicans have sought to interview Bill Clinton about Epstein, particularly after conspiracy theories surfaced in the wake of Epstein's 2019 suicide in a New York jail cell while he was accused of sex trafficking.
When multiple images of the former president appeared in the Department of Justice's initial release of case data on Epstein and Maxwell, a British socialite who was found guilty of sex trafficking in December 2021 but insists she is innocent, those calls reached a fever pitch late last year. On an aircraft, Bill Clinton was seen sitting next to a redacted woman and putting his arm over her. In a another image, Clinton and Maxwell were in a swimming pool with a deleted face.

During Clinton's presidency, Epstein also made multiple trips to the White House, and the two later traveled abroad on multiple occasions to carry out humanitarian activities. According to Comer, the committee has gathered proof that Epstein made 17 trips to the White House and that Bill Clinton took 27 flights on Epstein's aircraft.
Bill Clinton has maintained in the run-up to the deposition that he knew very little about Epstein and was not aware of any sexual assault he may have committed.At the close of her deposition on Thursday, Hillary Clinton stated, "I believe the timeline of the connection that he had with Epstein ended several years before anything about Epstein's criminal activities came to light."

Comer has promised to grill the former president in-depth. He asserted that Hillary Clinton had frequently referred inquiries regarding Epstein to her husband.
A transcript and video footage of her deposition were being prepared for publication by the committee.
Democrats who have backed the effort to get answers from Bill Clinton contend that it establishes a precedent that ought to be followed by Republican President Donald Trump, who had a personal relationship with Epstein.Rep. Robert Garcia, the committee's senior Democrat, stated Friday that President Trump should "man up, come before this committee, answer the questions, and stop calling this investigation a hoax."

Comer has disputed that notion, claiming that Trump has responded to inquiries about Epstein from the media.
Additionally, Democrats are demanding that Howard Lutnick, Trump's Commerce Secretary, quit. Longtime Epstein's neighbor in New York City, Lutnick claimed in a podcast that he broke off contact with Epstein after a 2005 tour of Epstein's house upset him and his wife.
In fact, Lutnick had two contacts with Epstein years later, as evidenced by the case files that were made public. He went to an event at Epstein's house in 2011, and his family had lunch with Epstein on his own island in 2012.Garcia stated that Lutnick "should be removed from office and at the very least should appear before the committee."

During Thursday's deposition, Republican Representative Nancy Mace asked Hillary Clinton about Lutnick's connection to Epstein. Mace joined the call on Friday morning for the commerce secretary to address the committee.Democratic Representative Ro Khanna stated, "I think we'll have the votes to subpoena him."