READ: Bill Clinton Releases Opening Statement Ahead of Epstein Testimony

(Mark Lennihan/AP photo)

Former President Bill Clinton has released his opening statement to the House Oversight Committee ahead of his deposition about his relationship with convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

The statement was posted to Clinton’s X account on Friday as he faced lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee in Chappaqua, New York.

“I’m here today for two reasons,” Clinton began. “The first is that I love my country. And America was built upon the idea that no person is above the law, even presidents — especially Presidents.”

He continued: “The second reason I’m here is that the girls and women whose lives Jeffrey Epstein destroyed deserve not only justice, but healing. Theyve been waiting too long for both. Though my brief acquaintance with Epstein ended years before his crimes came to light, and though I never witnessed during our limited interactions any indication of what was truly going on, I am here to offer what little I know so that it might prevent anything like this from ever happening again.”

Striking a defiant tone, Clinton rebuked lawmakers for questioning his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who faced the committee on Thursday:

I have to get personal. You made Hillary come in. 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 subpoeaned 10 people or 10,000, including her was simply not right.

Speaking of his own experience with Epstein, Clinton said: “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.”

This is a developing story and has been updated.

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