President Clinton’s Opening Statement to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee

Statement as shared by the Office of President Clinton

Good morning. Welcome to Chappaqua.

I'm here today for two reasons. 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.

Democracy requires every person to play their part, and I hope that by being here today, we can bring ourselves a little further away from the brink and back to being a country where we can disagree with one another civilly-where the search for truth and justice outweighs the partisan urge to score points and create spectacle. I'll do my part, and I hope you'll do yours.

The second reason I'm here is that the girls and women whose lives Jeffrey Epstein destroyed deserve not only justice, but healing. They've 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.

But before we start, 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 subpoenaed 10 people or 10,000, including her was simply not right.

We began this hearing with me raising my hand and taking an oath to tell the truth. But everyone has a responsibility to be honest with those they represent. Whether you raised your right hand or not, each and every one of us owes nothing less than truth and accuracy to the American people.

Now, let me say what you're going to hear from me.

First, I had no idea of the crimes Epstein was committing. No matter how many photos you show me, I have two things that 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.

I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong.

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.

But even with 20 /20 hindsight, I saw nothing that ever gave me pause. 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.

You'll often hear me say that I don't recall. That might be unsatisfying. But I'm not going to say something I'm not sure of. 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.

Since I am under oath, I will not falsely state that I am looking forward to your questions. But I am ready to answer them to the best of my abilities, consistent with the facts as I know them: the legitimate, the logical, and even the outlandish.

With that Mr. Chairman, fire away.