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PBS News Hour - Segments

Clinton testifies he had no knowledge of Epstein's crimes: 'I would have turned him in'

PBS News Hour - Segments

PBS NewsHour

News, Daily News

4.11K Ratings

🗓️ 27 February 2026

⏱️ 5 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Bill Clinton became the first former president compelled to testify to members of Congress. At a closed-door session, the House Oversight Committee heard from Clinton about his connections to Jeffrey Epstein. The testimony comes a day after the committee questioned his wife, former First Lady Hillary Clinton, for more than 6 hours. Congressional correspondent Lisa Desjardins reports. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Transcript

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0:00.0

Bill Clinton became the first former president compelled to testify to members of Congress today.

0:06.3

At a closed-door session in Chappaqua, New York, the House Oversight Committee heard from Clinton about his connections to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

0:15.0

Mr. Clinton said he did nothing wrong, adding, quote, I saw nothing that ever gave me pause.

0:20.6

Republican Chairman James Comer spoke late this afternoon. nothing wrong, adding, quote, I saw nothing that ever gave me pause.

0:23.9

Republican Chairman James Comer spoke late this afternoon.

0:30.7

I will have to say that President Clinton answered every question or attempted to answer every question.

0:31.3

We can talk about some of his answers in more detail.

0:34.3

And I'm sure once the video is released and the transcripts released,

0:38.5

not only will you, but a lot of people in America will have more questions about some of the

0:44.7

answers that were given. The former president's testimony comes a day after the committee

0:49.5

questioned his wife, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for more than six hours.

0:55.2

She said she had no new information about Epstein and had never met him.

0:59.6

Joining us now is our congressional correspondent, Lisa Desjardin.

1:02.6

So, Lisa, what did President Clinton say today behind closed doors?

1:06.1

This was extraordinary.

1:07.0

The former president testified for nearly seven hours.

1:14.6

He did say, as you indicated, that he knew of no wrongdoing. And specifically, in his opening statement, I want to read another quote that he had.

1:18.6

He wrote, not only would I have not flown on Epstein's plane, if I had known any inkling of what he was doing,

1:25.6

I would have turned him in myself.

1:29.1

Now, photos in the Epstein files, though, show some of the relationship between the two men.

1:33.3

Clinton flew on Epstein's plane roughly two dozen times. That was part of the work for the

1:37.6

Clinton Foundation that he was doing after leaving office. Now, Democrats on the committee both

...

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