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Former President Bill Clinton suggested he could not recall President Donald Trump ever implicating himself in Jeffrey Epstein's crimes, one of the Republicans deposing him said on Friday.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., briefly updated reporters during Clinton's deposition in the panel's Epstein probe. It began a little after 11 a.m. and is expected to continue into early Friday evening.
"I know there's a lot of obsession about President Trump from the media, a lot of curiosity about President Trump from media. I want to make a statement because they'll probably not mention this when they come out here," Comer said, referring to Democrats on the committee.
He said the panel's top Democrat, Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., asked Clinton if Trump should be called before the committee like he was.
"That's for you to decide," Clinton said, according to Comer.
"The president went on to say that the president, Trump, ‘has never said anything to me to make me think he was involved,’ and he meant with Epstein," Comer said. "I thought that was an interesting thing that President Clinton said."
His deposition, and that of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton before him, are taking place in the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center in Westchester County, N.Y.
The Clintons have claimed the New York City suburb as their permanent residence since leaving the White House in early 2000.
Democrats who emerged from the performing arts center minutes later to update reporters signaled they did not agree with Comer's account, but would not go into details on their own.
Garcia suggested there was an agreement between all parties to not discuss details of the deposition as it went on.
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"I think the best response with that is for you to view the complete record what actually he said, which, look, we're not going to disclose what was said because that's not in the rules. But Republicans keep breaking the rules," the California Democrat told reporters.
"President Clinton did bring up some additional information about discussions with President Trump. I think that the way Chairman Comer described it, I don't think it's a complete, accurate description of what actually was said. So let's release the full transcript, and you can all get a full record of what actually was said, which brings up some very important new questions about comments that President Trump has actually said in the past."
Trump has been a main flashpoint in the increasingly partisan divide in the House Oversight Committee's probe.
Democrats have accused the GOP side of covering up for Trump at the expense of Epstein's victims, while Republicans have accused Democrats of using the pedophile and his heinous crimes as a tool for attacking the commander in chief.
Trump himself told reporters on Friday when asked about Clinton, "I don't like seeing him deposed."
The deposition is ongoing behind closed doors, but the committee is expected to release a video and transcript of the entire sit-down within days of its conclusion. The same is true for Hillary Clinton's deposition, the video for which could be released as early as this weekend.
The only portion of Clinton's testimony that is public so far is his opening statement in which he denied knowing anything about Epstein's crimes.
"Now, let me say what you're going to hear from me. First, I had no idea of the crimes Epstein was committing. 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," Clinton said, according to his prepared opening remarks.
"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."
Neither Trump nor Clinton have been implicated in any wrongdoing associated with Epstein or his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell.
English (US)