The House Oversight Committee on Monday released videos of its interviews last week with former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as part of its probe into the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
NBC News is reviewing the videos, which are about 4½ hours each and show the former first couple tangling with Republican lawmakers at times. The video, which includes numerous redactions, was posted days after the Clintons sat for interviews with the GOP-led committee to answer questions about Epstein and his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell.
Hillary Clinton answered questions under oath from the committee Thursday, and Bill Clinton answered questions Friday.
In his interview, Clinton recalled a conversation he once had with Donald Trump about Epstein "20-something years ago."
"It was on his golf course," he said. He said they were playing together at a charity game, "and he somehow had known I'd flown in Jeffrey Epstein's aircraft and he said, 'You know, we had some great times together over the years, but we fell out all because of a real estate deal,'" Clinton testified. "And he said that I'm sorry it happened."
Clinton told the panel that Trump “never said anything to make me think he was involved with anything improper in regard to Epstein, either.”
The Washington Post first reported in 2019 that Trump and Epstein’s rift was related to a Florida mansion they both wanted to buy.
Trump has said they had a falling-out because he thought Epstein was a "creep." Trump has not been accused of any wrongdoing by law enforcement and has denied any wrongdoing involving Epstein.
Bill Clinton has acknowledged having flown on Epstein's plane for Clinton Foundation travel in the early 2000s, before Epstein was hit with criminal charges, and he has denied knowledge of Epstein's crimes at the time. Hillary Clinton has said she doesn't remember ever meeting him but acknowledged that Maxwell, who's serving 20 years in prison for sex trafficking, was an "acquaintance." Neither Clinton has been charged with any wrongdoing.
Bill Clinton was asked whether he believed Maxwell should receive clemency, which she’s seeking from Trump. He answered, “I don’t think I should comment on that.”
He then said, “This was really hard for me when it came out," referring to the charges against Maxwell. "We were friendly with Ghislaine." He didn’t clarify whom "we" referred to.
He added: "I was sad. But it was terrible what she did, and she should be punished. Somebody besides me should make a decision on what it is."
Clinton, asked by Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., whether the Oversight Committee should question Trump, said, “That’s for you to decide, but he did know him well.”
Hillary Clinton was more direct.
“Absolutely,” she said. “He would be on my witness list.”
During her deposition, Clinton got into a testy exchange with Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., who asked about various pictures of her husband with other women that appeared to have been taken while he was traveling with Epstein. The photos included one in which he was getting a back massage while he was clothed and seated.
“When you saw photos of your husband in a hot tub, laying on a beach and getting massaged by other women, and you knew that Jeffrey Epstein was involved in some of these trips and these things, did it concern you at all?” Mace asked.
“I’m here not to offer my opinions. I’m here to answer specific questions, to the best of my ability,” Hillary Clinton replied.
Asked what went through her mind when she saw the photos, Clinton answered, “I am not going to speculate.”
“You didn’t have any feelings about young women massaging your husband?” Mace continued.
“I am not going to offer opinions or speculation about anything that I have no context for and was not there,” Clinton shot back.
The video also shows Hillary Clinton getting irate when she found out that Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., had shared a photo of her from the deposition that ended up on social media, which Clinton’s attorney said was a violation of the agreed-upon rules.
“I’m done with this. If you guys are doing that, I am done. You can hold me in contempt from now until the cows come home. This is just typical behavior,” Clinton said. “Oh, for heaven’s sake! I’m done, for now.”
The video then goes black with the words “off the record” on the screen before the session resumes an indeterminate amount of time later.
Clinton clashed with Boebert later on in the deposition, when Boebert asked her questions about the “pizzagate” conspiracy theory.
“I can’t believe you’re even referencing it,” Clinton said. “I mean, I expected a lot of interesting questions today, but pizzagate was not on my list.”
Bill Clinton said on X after his hours of testimony, "Though my brief acquaintance with Epstein ended years before his crimes came to light, and though I never witnessed during our limited interactions, any indication with what was truly going on, I offered the little I do know, in the hopes that it would help prevent anything like this from ever happening again."
"When the video of my testimony today is released, I hope it will motivate everyone to go in front of Congress to say what they know. I hope it will motivate the Justice Department to finally release all the files and to ensure that this never happens again," he said.
Transcripts of the interviews — which must be reviewed by multiple parties, including the Clintons — will be released later.
