Former President Bill Clinton denied any knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein's crimes in an opening statement before the House Oversight Committee in New York on Friday, the first time a former president has been compelled to testify to Congress.

"I had no idea of the crimes Epstein was committing," Clinton said in his statement. "No matter how many photos you show me, I have two things that at the end of the day matter more than your interpretation of those 20-year-old photos. I know what I saw, and more importantly, what I didn't see. I know what I did, and more importantly, what I didn't do. I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong."

He acknowledged that he may tell lawmakers he does not recall certain events, saying he would not "speculate or guess" under oath about interactions that occurred years ago.

"This was all a long time ago," Clinton said. "I am bound by my oath not to speculate."

The deposition is taking place behind closed doors in Chappaqua, New York, the Clintons' hometown. It caps what Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, the Republican chairman of the committee, described as a lengthy effort to secure their testimony. Both initially refused to comply with a subpoena before relenting under threat of a House vote to hold them in contempt.

"It took seven months — seven months — to get the Clintons in here, but we got them in here," Comer told reporters ahead of Bill Clinton's appearance. "We look forward to asking lots of questions that I think any curious media outlet in America would have."

Bill Clinton's testimony comes a day after Hillary Clinton spent hours with the panel. Comer said the former secretary of state frequently deferred questions about her husband's interactions with Epstein.

"There were at least a dozen times when she said, 'You'll have to ask my husband that. I can't answer that,'" Comer said.

In his statement, Bill Clinton criticized the committee for bringing his wife in for questioning, saying she "had nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein. Nothing."

"She has no memory of even meeting him. She neither traveled with him nor visited any of his properties. Whether you subpoenaed 10 people or 10,000, including her was simply not right," he said.

The former president has appeared in photos with Epstein that have been released in recent months and took a handful of trips with him decades ago, but has not been accused of any wrongdoing. Comer said lawmakers would ask Clinton about the photos, email correspondence mentioning him, flights he took on Epstein's jet and events Epstein attended at the White House while Clinton was president.

Rep. Robert Garcia, the committee's top Democrat, said Democrats have "real questions that deserve serious answers" from the former president, but noted that the questioning of Hillary Clinton devolved into a "sideshow" with a "series of bizarre questions" about UFOs and conspiracy theories. He said the committee should call for Mr. Trump to testify about his own ties to Epstein.

"Republicans are now setting a new precedent, which is to bring in presidents and former presidents to testify," Garcia said. "We are now asking and demanding that President Trump officially come in and testify in front of the Oversight Committee."

In a sworn declaration submitted to the committee last month, Bill Clinton said Epstein offered his private plane to him, his staff and his Secret Service detail in support of the Clinton Foundation's philanthropic work between 2002 and 2003. He denied ever visiting Epstein's private island in the Virgin Islands, where a number of the late financier's alleged crimes occurred, and maintained that he had not been in contact with Epstein for more than a decade before his 2019 arrest.

"While Mr. Epstein may very well have attended any of the many hundreds of White House events or receptions during my eight years in office and been photographed with me as were tens of thousands of individuals, I do not recall encountering Mr. Epstein, or any specific interactions with him, while in office," Clinton said in the declaration.

The former president also did not recall when he met convicted Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell or his interactions with her, but said she later was in a relationship with a mutual friend.

"To be clear, I had no idea of Mr. Epstein's or Ms. Maxwell's criminal activities," the declaration said. "And, irrespective of any intent either may have ever had, I did not take any action for the purpose of helping them to avoid any type of scrutiny."

In her deposition Thursday, Hillary Clinton reiterated that she had no knowledge of Epstein or Maxwell's crimes. When asked by reporters after the deposition whether she was confident her husband also had no knowledge of Epstein's crimes, Hillary Clinton responded, "I am."

"The chronology of the connection that he had with Epstein ended years, several years before anything about Epstein's criminal activities came to light," she said.

Former presidents have not successfully been compelled to testify before Congress in the past. But several have voluntarily answered questions from committees, including Presidents Gerald Ford in 1983, Harry Truman in 1955 and William Howard Taft a dozen times. Several sitting presidents have also appeared voluntarily.

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