A motorcade carrying former President Bill Clinton approaches the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center in Chappaqua, New York, where Mr. Clinton testified before U.S. House lawmakers on February 27, 2026 as part of a Congressional investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
| Photo Credit: AP
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton said on Friday (February 27, 2026) he had no idea of the crimes Jeffrey Epstein was committing and would not have flown on the late convicted sex offender’s plane if he had any inkling of them. “I know what I did, and more importantly, what I didn’t do. I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong,” Mr. Bill Clinton said in his prepared opening statement to the House of Representatives Oversight Committee.
Mr. Bill Clinton was testifying behind closed doors to the Congressional panel about his ties to the late sex offender, in what could be a tense confrontation between the former Democratic leader and President Donald Trump’s fellow Republicans.
Mr. Bill Clinton’s testimony follows that of his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who told the House of Representatives Oversight Committee on Thursday (February 26, 2026) that she did not remember ever meeting Epstein and had nothing to share about his sex crimes.
She said she was also asked about UFOs and a 2016-era conspiracy theory during the seven-hour session.
Mr. Bill Clinton flew on Epstein’s plane several times in the early 2000s after he left office, and a tranche of millions of documents released by the Justice Department includes photos of him with women whose faces are redacted. He has denied wrongdoing and expressed regret for his association.
Before the sessions, the panel’s Republican chairman, Representative James Comer of Kentucky, said he would ask the former President about those photos. The committee is also expected to quiz Mr. Bill Clinton about Epstein’s involvement with the couple’s charitable foundation.
Mr. Comer said video of Ms. Hillary Clinton’s testimony could be released as soon as Friday (February 27, 2026).
Mr. Comer repeatedly has said the Clintons are not accused of wrongdoing.
They agreed to testify near their main residence of Chappaqua, New York, after the House threatened to hold them in contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate. Some Democrats supported the move.
Both Clintons accuse Republicans of conducting a partisan exercise designed to protect Mr. Trump from scrutiny, noting that others in the inquiry were allowed to submit written statements rather than testify in person.
Democrats say the panel should also subpoena Mr. Trump, whose name appears frequently in the Epstein-related files. Mr. Trump socialised extensively with Epstein in the 1990s and 2000s, before Epstein’s 2008 conviction of soliciting prostitution from a minor.
Democrats are also accusing Mr. Trump’s Justice Department of withholding records of a woman who accused Mr. Trump of sexually abusing her when she was a minor. The Justice Department has said it is looking at the material in question and will publish it if appropriate.
The department has previously cautioned that the material it has released includes unfounded accusations and sensationalist claims about Mr. Trump, and authorities have not accused him of any criminal wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.
“President Clinton’s presence here today under oath highlights the Donald Trump-sized gaping hole in Chairman Comer’s investigation,” said Democratic Representative James Walkinshaw of Virginia, in remarks to reporters before the start of Friday (February 27, 2026)’s proceedings.
Epstein died in jail in 2019 while facing federal sex-trafficking crimes. His death was ruled a suicide.
Published – February 27, 2026 10:46 pm IST
