Bill Clinton told congressmen that he "did not see anything that would cause him concern" when he met with Jeffrey Epstein while testifying behind closed doors about his relationship with the late financier and sex offender, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
Clinton told the House Oversight Committee that he would not have flown on the late financier's plane if he had known about his trafficking of underage girls, and would have reported it if he had.
"We are only here because he hid it from everyone so well and for so long," Clinton said.
The ex-president flew with Epstein's plane several times in the early 2000s, after he left office and before Epstein's 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor for prostitution. Some of the millions of documents released by the Justice Department include photos of Clinton with women whose faces have been blacked out.
"I saw nothing and I did nothing" illegal, Clinton added. He testified a day after his wife, Hillary Clinton, told the committee that she had no recollection of meeting Epstein and had nothing to say about his sex crimes.
She said she was also questioned about UFOs and a 2016 conspiracy theory during the seven-hour session.
The committee's Republican chairman, Representative James Comer of Kentucky, said he would question the former president about the photos released by the Justice Department. The committee is also expected to question the Clintons about Epstein's involvement in their charitable foundation.
Comer said a videotape of Hillary Clinton's testimony could be released soon. The president has repeatedly stated that Bill and Hillary Clinton have not been accused of "wrongdoing".
Both Clintons accuse Republicans of waging a partisan campaign to shield Trump from investigation. They note that other people involved in the investigation were allowed to submit written statements rather than testify in person.
Democratic politicians argue that the committee should also subpoena Trump, whose name frequently appears in documents related to Epstein, as well as Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who has acknowledged visiting the late financier's private island.
Trump had close ties with Epstein in the 1990s and early 2000s and claims to have severed them before his conviction in 2008.
Democrats also accuse the Justice Department of withholding documents from a woman who accused Trump of sexual abuse when she was a minor. The Justice Department said it was reviewing the material in question and would release it if appropriate, Reuters recalls.
"President Clinton's presence here today, (testifying) under oath, highlights the Donald Trump-sized gap that exists in Chairman Comer's investigation," said Democratic Congressman James Walkinshaw of Virginia.