The biggest revelations from Bill Clinton’s deposition on Epstein

The House panel charged with investigating Jeffrey Epstein on Monday released more than nine hours of video footage from last week’s closed-door depositionswith Bill and Hillary Clinton, where the former first couple repeatedly distanced themselves from the late convicted sex offender.

In compliance with congressional subpoenas, the former president and secretary of State were grilled by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee over what they recall about Epstein and his co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell.

Bill Clinton, who testified last Friday, recalled being told by President Donald Trump that he and Epstein had “a falling out over a land-deal, property deal.”

“[Trump] somehow knew I had flown in Jeffrey Epstein’s aircraft, and he said, ‘you know, we had some great times together over the years,’” the former president said, referring to Trump’s recollection of his friendship with Epstein.

“He did know him well,” Bill Clinton also said, referring to Trump’s rapport with Epstein.

Trump has insisted he cut off ties with Epstein years before the convicted sex offender was put in jail and has not been charged with misconduct.

“Just as President Trump has said, he’s been totally exonerated on anything relating to Epstein," said White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson. "And by releasing thousands of pages of documents, cooperating with the House Oversight Committee’s subpoena request, signing the Epstein Files Transparency Act, and calling for more investigations into Epstein’s Democrat friends, President Trump has done more for Epstein’s victims than anyone before him."

Bill Clinton also maintained he had no knowledge of Epstein’s sex crimes and that he severed ties with the disgraced financier years prior to his arrest in 2019. Hillary Clinton, whose interview was last Thursday, insisted she didn’t recall ever meeting Epstein and considered Maxwell an acquaintance.

Neither have been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein, who faced various state and federal charges over two decades related to the sexual abuse and trafficking of dozens of underage girls as young as 14.

In 2008, Epstein avoided severe federal charges and pleaded guilty to lesser state charges in Florida as part of a controversial plea deal. A new federal indictment in New York led to his arrest in July 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges, and he pleaded not guilty. The federal case was formally dismissed in August 2019 following his death by suicide in jail while awaiting trial.

But over the course of two days inside a performing arts center in Chappaqua, New York, the Clintons offered rare insight into the private lives of some of the most powerful and closely scrutinized public figures in modern history.

Here are some of the biggest revelations.

How Bill Clinton met Jeffrey Epstein

Bill Clinton laid out the origin story of his relationship with Epstein — an account not widely known and perhaps never before entered into the public record.

He said that, in around 2001 or 2002, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers called to say that Epstein — an “information hungry person” who had donated millions for brain research at Harvard University — wanted to talk to the former president about economics and politics, the former president said.

“He said, ‘He’s got this massive airplane, and he said he would take you, your staff, your Secret Service detail, anybody else you wanted to bring on the trips that he knew I was planning” for his charitable work, Bill Clinton said of the call from Summers, who was then the president of Harvard University.

Summers has since resigned from the institution over the emerging revelations of his ties to Epstein.

“I am deeply ashamed of my actions and recognize the pain they have caused,” Summers told POLITICO in November. “I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr. Epstein.”

A spokesperson for Summers did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

Bill Clinton took Epstein up on his offer and said they traveled together for a trip with his foundation, the Clinton Global Initiative, around 2002. He added that he took “all or part of four or five trips to Asia and Africa and one to North, Northern Europe on Mr. Epstein’s airplane.” He also used the jet to return from Florida to New York, he said.

He estimated that his last trip on Epstein’s jet was 2003, and said their relationship ended when closer acquaintances of the Clintons began offering alternative transportation.

“I thought Mr. Epstein was an interesting man, but he — I didn’t think he was really interested in what I was doing,” Clinton said. “Over the years with these donors, [I’ve] tried not to overstay my welcome."

Bill Clinton denies knowledge of sexual activities in Epstein’s orbit

The former president addressed a photo released as part of the Epstein files made public by the Justice Department appearing to show him receiving a massage from a woman in what appears to be an airport.

“There was one time when I was sitting up and I got a back rub, a neck rub. And I think [she] did it, but I’m not sure,” he recalled.

He later added that his neck “had spasmed” and the woman on the plane “offered to help, and I let them help.”

Bill Clinton was emphatic that he did not engage in any sexual activities with anyone while on Epstein's plane, nor did he witness any other passengers engaging in sexual activities.

“I never saw anybody do anything wrong,” he said of his numerous trips on Epstein’s private plane, adding of the women: “I thought they were flight attendants.”

He was also asked if he ever saw underage girls on Epstein’s plane: “To the best of my knowledge, there was not. If there was and I knew it, I would be uncomfortable,” he said.

Asked about separate photos that appeared to show her husband receiving massages from several women on a beach, Hillary Clinton declined to answer. “I am not going to offer opinions or speculation about anything that I have no context for and was not there,” she said.

Clintons said they didn’t know about Epstein’s donations

Both Bill and Hillary Clinton denied knowing they ever got money from Epstein.

“I think this is the first time I've ever known that,” Bill Clinton said when asked about two $1,000 donations Epstein apparently contributed to groups related to his 1992 presidential campaign.

Hillary Clinton told the committee she had “no recollection” of Epstein giving $20,000 to a joint committee supporting her 2000 bid for Senate, citing rules that prohibit such committees from coordinating directly with campaigns.

“I didn't know he was a donor,” she said. She also denied having knowledge of Epstein’s support of the Clinton Global Intiative, adding: “I have no knowledge that Jeffrey Epstein was involved at all.”

A tense exchange over Howard Lutnick

Asked about Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick during their depositions, both Bill and Hillary Clinton denied ever speaking with him about Epstein.

Hillary Clinton told lawmakers that anyone who played a “prominent role” in the files should be deposed, after House Democrats asked whether Lutnick ought to testify. But the questioning grew tense when Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) confronted her with an email Lutnick sent inviting Epstein to a fundraiser for Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.

The former secretary of State responded that she knew Lutnick primarily as “the man who lost the employees that he knew intimately” in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, when she represented New York in the U.S. Senate.

She reiterated that she had no knowledge of any exchanges between Lutnick and Epstein related to her campaign.

Lutnick has come under fire after recently acknowledging that he took a trip to Epstein’s island in 2012 with his family — after he had previously claimed that their relationship had ended once Epstein had been convicted of soliciting a prostitute.

He has not been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein’s crimes and said in a recent congressional hearing that he “barely had anything to do” with the late financier. A Commerce spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

Bill Clinton echoed his wife’s account in his own deposition, saying his familiarity with Lutnick stemmed from his wife’s relationship with him after the Sept. 11 attacks. He also denied any conversations with Lutnick about Epstein.

But Mace, who said she would support asubpoena for Lutnick in the next phase of House Oversight’s Epstein investigation, challenged Hillary Clinton’s memory of the guest list for a 2016 presidential campaign event, accusing her of "obfuscating" a $20,000 donation.

“He was the go-between between you and Jeffrey Epstein raising money for you," Mace said.

Erica Orden and Daniel Desrochers contributed to this report.