Former President Bill Clinton said during a closed-door deposition that President Donald Trump never indicated to him that he was involved in Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes, according to House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer.
Comer briefly spoke to reporters Friday during a break in Clinton’s deposition, which began shortly after 11 a.m. and is expected to continue into the evening, Fox News reported.
“I know there’s a lot of obsession about President Trump from the media, a lot of curiosity about President Trump from media. I want to make a statement because they’ll probably not mention this when they come out here,” Comer said, referring to Democrats on the committee.
Comer said Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., asked Clinton whether Trump should also be called before the committee.
“That’s for you to decide,” Clinton responded, according to Comer.
Comer said Clinton then addressed Trump directly.
“The president went on to say that the president, Trump, ‘has never said anything to me to make me think he was involved,’ and he meant with Epstein,” Comer said. “I thought that was an interesting thing that President Clinton said.”
The deposition is taking place at the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center in Westchester County, New York.
Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have maintained the New York suburb as their permanent residence since leaving the White House in early 2000.
Democrats who exited the facility shortly after Comer disputed his characterization but declined to provide their own detailed account.
Garcia suggested there was an agreement not to publicly discuss specifics while the deposition was ongoing.
“I think the best response with that is for you to view the complete record what actually he said, which, look, we’re not going to disclose what was said because that’s not in the rules. But Republicans keep breaking the rules,” Garcia told reporters.
“President Clinton did bring up some additional information about discussions with President Trump. I think that the way Chairman Comer described it, I don’t think it’s a complete, accurate description of what actually was said.”
“So, let’s release the full transcript, and you can all get a full record of what actually was said, which brings up some very important new questions about comments that President Trump has actually said in the past.”
The deposition comes amid a sharply divided House Oversight Committee investigation into Epstein.
Democrats have accused Republicans of shielding Trump at the expense of Epstein’s victims.
Republicans have accused Democrats of using Epstein’s crimes to target the commander in chief.
Trump told reporters Friday when asked about Clinton, “I don’t like seeing him deposed.”
The deposition is being conducted behind closed doors.
The committee is expected to release both video and transcripts of the testimony within days of its conclusion. Hillary Clinton’s deposition video could be released as early as this weekend. The only public portion of Bill Clinton’s testimony so far is his opening statement.
“Now, let me say what you’re going to hear from me. First, I had no idea of the crimes Epstein was committing. No matter how many photos you show me, I have two things that, at the end of the day, matter more than your interpretation of those 20-year-old photos,” Clinton said.
“I know what I saw and, more importantly, what I didn’t see. I know what I did and, more importantly, what I didn’t do. I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong.”
Neither Trump nor Clinton has been implicated in any wrongdoing related to Epstein or his associate, Ghislaine Maxwell.
