Bill Clinton issues explosive statement after Hillary was forced to testify on Epstein relationship

In explosive remarks before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, former President Bill Clinton has forcefully rejected assertions that he knew anything about Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking operation.

"I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong," the 79-year-old said in a direct opening statement, further asserting that he 'had no idea of the crimes' being committed by the dead convicted pedophile during the time that he knew him.

Revelations from the three million documents released by the Department of Justice (DOJ) have shown that Clinton likely flew on Epstein's private jet at least two dozen times in the years before Epstein's 2008 conviction for soliciting child prostitution.

Turning to the time of his association with Epstein from the mid 1990s to the early 2000s, Clinton told the committee that he 'saw nothing that ever gave me pause', in an opening statement that then turned on the gather Representatives for hauling Hillary before them yesterday, February 26.

The Epstein files revealed a number of previously unseen photos of Bill Clinton that belonged to Jeffrey Epstein (The US Justice Department / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Both Bill and Hillary Clinton agreed to testify about their relationship with Epstein after being threatened with criminal charges.

“But before we start, I have to get personal. You made Hillary come in. She had nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein. Nothing,” Clinton blasted. “Whether you subpoenaed 10 people or 10,000, including her was simply not right.”

And in her own testimony, former Secretary of State Clinton told the committee she couldn't remember ever meeting the now-dead sex trafficker and added that her husband he ended his friendship with Epstein 'several years' before his conviction.

But while Hillary's testimony on Thursday gave no new information to the Oversight Committee, the former president told the gathered politicians that Epstein's ability to conceal his crimes from others was part of how he evaded the law for so long.

“We are only here because he hid it from everyone so well for so long. And by the time it came to light with his 2008 guilty plea, I had long stopped associating with him,” Clinton said.

However, he also added that his answers might be 'unsatisfying' as he simply did not recall all the details. He said: "This was all a long time ago. And I am bound by my oath not to speculate, or to guess.

"This is not merely for my benefit, but because it doesn’t help you for me to play detective 24 years later."

The Clintons were threatened with criminal charges if they did not testify before the committee (The US Justice Department / Handout /Anadolu via Getty Images)

Clinton also pointed to his upbringing, appealing to his moral character as a reason he would not have stood by had he known of Epstein's horrific crimes.

Referring to his alcoholic father's abuse of his mom, he said: "As someone who grew up in a home with domestic abuse, not only would I not have flown on his plane if I had any inkling of what he was doing—I would have turned him in myself and led the call for justice for his crimes, not sweetheart deals."

Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer will doubtlessly have found this opening statement frustrating, after signposting beforehand that he had 'a big portfolio of questions' to ask the former president as a result of Hillary's own deferrals the day before.

But Clinton told the committee: “No matter how many photos you show me, I have two things 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.”

This is despite the considerable amount of fresh information released as part of the DOJ's release of the Epstein files at the end of January, which included pictures showing Clinton with a number of redacted females, as well as an image of him in the pool with Epstein's now-convicted accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.