Bill Clinton Attacks GOP Over Hillary Subpoena in Epstein Case — 'Including Her Was Simply Not Right'

Bill Clinton didn't hold back. He sat for more than four hours of sworn testimony about Jeffrey Epstein, answered every question thrown at him, then turned his fire on Republicans for dragging his wife into it.

'So I don't think that was right,' Clinton said of Hillary's subpoena, noting a single photograph of the couple shaking Epstein's hand at a 1993 White House event hardly justified her appearance. 'I do think you should be talking to me. I did take those plane trips with him.'

But buried in that testimony? A detail that could prove far more consequential.

Trump Discussed 'Great Times' With Epstein

During the closed-door deposition, Clinton recalled a golf course conversation with Donald Trump from some 20 years ago. They were at a charity tournament for Joe Torre's Safe at Home Foundation. Trump approached him, apparently knowing Clinton had flown on Epstein's plane.

'You know, we had some great times together over the years, but we fell out all because of a real estate deal,' Clinton testified that Trump told him. 'And he said, 'I'm sorry it happened.''

That's it. No mention of Epstein's behaviour. No suggestion that Trump found him disturbing. Just a property dispute.

This directly contradicts the White House's long-held position. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated last November that Trump 'kicked [Epstein] out' of Mar-a-Lago because 'Jeffrey Epstein was a paedophile and he was a creep.' Clinton's account instead matches the 2019 Washington Post reporting about a Palm Beach mansion bidding war.

Clinton did add that Trump 'never said anything to make me think he was involved with anything improper.' But he also told lawmakers: 'That's for you to decide.'

Hillary Clinton was more direct. Asked if Trump should testify, she said: 'Absolutely. He would be on my witness list.'

Democrats Want Trump Under Oath

The House Oversight Committee released deposition videos on Monday. Bill Clinton's ran 4 hours 33 minutes. Hillary Clinton's went 4 hours 35 minutes. This marks the first time a former president has been compelled to testify before Congress since 1983.

Rep. Robert Garcia, the committee's top Democrat, wasted no time. He invoked what he called the 'Clinton rule' as grounds for bringing Trump in.

'Republicans have now set a new precedent, which is to bring in presidents and former presidents to testify,' Garcia told reporters. 'We now want President Trump to come in and to testify under oath.'

Garcia pointed out that Trump appears in the Epstein files 'almost more than anyone else besides Ghislaine Maxwell.' Chairman James Comer pushed back, arguing that sitting presidents can't be deposed. Trump himself said he didn't like seeing Clinton questioned.

'I don't like seeing him deposed, but they certainly went after me a lot more than that,' Trump told reporters.

Chaos Inside the Deposition Room

The proceedings weren't exactly smooth.

According to reports, Rep. Lauren Boebert violated committee rules by sharing photographs from both depositions with conservative influencer Benny Johnson, who posted them online. After Bill Clinton's testimony, she added a caption mocking Hillary Clinton's 2013 Benghazi testimony: 'What difference, at this point, does it make?'

Hillary Clinton nearly walked out when she learned about the first leak. 'I'm done with this. If you guys are doing that, I am done,' she said, banging her fist on the table. 'You can hold me in contempt from now until the cows come home.'

She also criticised the quality of questioning. Toward the end, she said, lawmakers asked about 'UFOs and a series of questions about Pizzagate, one of the most vile, bogus conspiracy theories that was propagated on the internet.'

What Both Clintons Denied

Bill Clinton maintained throughout that he never visited Epstein's island, never witnessed any wrongdoing, and ended contact with Epstein years before his 2008 guilty plea to state charges in Florida for soliciting prostitution from an underage girl. He flew on Epstein's plane more than a dozen times between 2001 and 2004 for Clinton Foundation work, he said.

Hillary Clinton repeated that she never recalled meeting Epstein. She acknowledged knowing Ghislaine Maxwell, currently serving 20 years for sex trafficking, 'casually as an acquaintance.'

Neither Clinton has been charged with any wrongdoing. Neither has Trump.

Chairman Comer called Bill Clinton 'charming' and 'cooperative'. Republican Rep. Nick Langworthy said Clinton 'was quite candid, perhaps more candid than his attorneys were comfortable.'

But Clinton made clear where he stood on his wife's subpoena. He pointed to that lone photograph from 1993: 'Neither she nor I remembered shaking his hand all those years ago.'

Including her, he said, simply wasn't right.