WASHINGTON: Bill Clinton told lawmakers on Friday that he “saw nothing that gave me pause” when he spent time with Jeffrey Epstein, as the former US president gave closed-door testimony about his relationship with the late sex offender.

In a prepared statement, Clinton told the House of Representatives Oversight Committee that he would not have flown on the late financier’s plane if he had known about his alleged sex trafficking of underage girls, and would have reported him if he did.

“We are only here because he hid it from everyone so well for so long,” Clinton said.

Clinton flew on Epstein’s plane several times in the early 2000s after he left office and before Epstein’s 2008 conviction of soliciting prostitution from a minor. A tranche of millions of documents released by the Justice Department includes photos of Clinton with women whose faces are redacted.

“I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong,” Clinton said.

His testimony follows that of his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who told the panel on Thursday 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.

The panel’s Republican chairman, Representative James Comer of Kentucky, has repeatedly said the Clintons are not accused of wrongdoing but should answer questions about Epstein’s involvement with their charitable foundation.

During a break in the testimony, Comer told reporters that Clinton told the committee that Donald Trump had never said anything to him to make him think the Republican president was involved in criminal activity with Epstein.

Democrats on the panel said that was not an accurate characterisation and said it raised questions about Trump’s past statements.

They said the committee should call Trump to testify — a notion Comer has ruled out.

Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2026