Former President Bill Clinton told lawmakers in a videotaped deposition that President Donald Trump once told him he had “some great times” with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein before their relationship soured.
Clinton testified to the House Oversight Committee that Trump raised Epstein during a golf tournament in 2002 or 2003, after Clinton left office and more than a decade before Trump became president. “Somehow he knew I had flown in Jeffrey Epstein’s aircraft,” Clinton said. “He said, ‘You know, we had some great times together over the years, but we fell out all because of a real estate deal.'”
Trump has said the relationship cooled after Epstein hired young women who worked at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club. Clinton said the exchange did not lead him to believe Trump was involved in anything improper involving Epstein. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Both Clinton and Trump associated with Epstein before the financier pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution from a minor. Each has said they saw no evidence of sex trafficking, and neither has been accused by authorities of criminal activity related to Epstein, who hosted many business and financial leaders at residences in New York, Florida and the Caribbean. Epstein was arrested again in 2019 on federal sex-trafficking charges and died in prison; his death was ruled a suicide.
Under Trump, the Justice Department released millions of records from its investigations into Epstein, including photos of Clinton with women’s faces redacted. Clinton has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and said he regrets his association with Epstein.
Clinton said he was introduced to Epstein by former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, who described Epstein as a donor willing to fly Clinton and his staff as he helped set up a charitable AIDS foundation. Clinton said he flew on Epstein’s jet to Asia, Africa and Europe and once from Florida to New York, but that he moved on to other donors after 2003. “I thought Mr. Epstein was an interesting man, but I didn’t think he was really interested in what I was doing,” Clinton said.
Clinton said he never had sexual contact with anyone introduced by Epstein or his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, though he acknowledged receiving a neck massage from a flight attendant later identified as an Epstein abuse survivor. He said he did not know Epstein had abused girls he had recruited as masseuses. “I didn’t think it was anything unusual. I can’t tell you how many airplanes I’ve been on where rich people asked me to go and they had someone offering massage. All these boats that you go on and all that, they all do that. And usually I don’t do that,” Clinton said.
He told lawmakers he never visited Epstein’s Caribbean island and did not know Epstein had visited the White House 17 times during his 1993-2001 presidency. The Republican-led panel also subpoenaed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who testified last week that she did not recall ever meeting Epstein.
