Former U.S. President Bill Clinton's testimony was disclosed to the House committee, revealing that Donald Trump once spoke about having good times with the notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein before their relationship ended due to business disputes. Clinton confirmed that neither had seen evidence of human trafficking during their associations with Epstein.
On Monday (2 Mar), video testimony of former U.S. President Bill Clinton to the House Oversight Committee was released. Under oath, Clinton said Donald Trump mentioned Jeffrey Epstein during a golf game in 2002 or 2003, after Clinton had left office and more than a decade before Trump was elected president.
Clinton stated that Trump knew he had traveled on Epstein's private plane. Trump told him, "You know, we had some good times together over the years, but we fell out over a real estate deal." However, Trump's side previously claimed their relationship soured after Epstein hired women who worked at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club.
Although both Clinton and Trump were once close to Epstein before the billionaire pleaded guilty in 2008 to procuring underage prostitutes, both repeatedly insisted they saw no evidence of human trafficking during that time. Neither was ever charged by authorities in connection with Epstein's crimes.
Epstein was arrested again in 2019 on sex trafficking charges and later died in jail, with the autopsy ruling his death a suicide.
Clinton explained he was introduced to Epstein by former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, noting Epstein was a donor who provided a private plane for Clinton and his team to travel worldwide to establish an AIDS charity foundation. Clinton admitted using Epstein's plane to travel to Asia, Africa, and Europe but ended the relationship and sought other donors after 2003.
He said, "I thought Mr. Epstein was an interesting person, but I don't think he was really interested in what I was doing."
In his testimony, Clinton denied having sexual relations with anyone introduced by Epstein or Epstein's associate Ghislaine Maxwell. However, he acknowledged receiving "neck massages" from flight attendants on the plane, who were later identified as survivors of Epstein's abuse, but emphasized he did not suspect anything was wrong at the time.
"I can't say how many flights I took on planes where wealthy people invited me and there were people offering massages, which I usually didn't use often," Clinton said.
Clinton also denied ever visiting Epstein's private island in the Caribbean and said he was unaware Epstein visited the White House 17 times during his presidency. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton, who was also called to testify, said she did not recall ever meeting Epstein.
. . .Reuters