Bill Clinton Explains 'Shocking' Epstein Hot Tub Photos

And we returned to answer questions. repetitively, literally over and over. again. I don't know how many times I had. to say I did not know Jeffrey Epstein. All right, so this is part two, Bill and. Hillary Clinton's depositions to the. House Oversight Committee. It's getting. a lot of attention right now with people. analyzing their answers that the former. president and former first lady gave in. response to questions [music] about. convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. How did they know him? Did they ever see. or hear about any wrongdoing? When did.

they cut [music] ties with the accused. trafficker? We did this yesterday. Now. we're going to do a deeper dive into all. of the Clintons' explanations and. sometimes I will tell you [music] it got. a bit tense. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law & Crime. I'm Jesse. Weber. So I said this last night that we were. probably going to do a follow-up episode. cuz last night we did breaking news. We. just got the videotaped depositions of. Bill and Hillary Clinton. We wanted to. send something out to as quickly as.

possible. This is part two, okay? We. wanted to do a follow-up and as. promised, here you go. Bill Clinton, I. mean every day we learn about new. information about Jeffrey Epstein, his. inner circle, his wide-ranging. influence, his alleged connections to. powerful people all over the world. And. for years former president Bill Clinton, cuz a lot of the focus is more on him. We're actually going to focus more on. his testimony in this episode. It has. been brought up in connection with. Epstein. And we know that Jeffrey. Epstein's crimes and the allegations. surrounding him running this sex.

trafficking operation, right? This. rampant alleged abuse of teenage girls, that in and of itself can be explored. But the other part that's being explored. right now with so much of the release of. the Epstein files has been. did other people know about what he was. accused of doing? Was it an open secret. in some circles, right? That seems to be. what the House Oversight Committee is. trying to get to. And now the former. president has been caught up in this, why? The former president has. acknowledged taking trips on Epstein's.

private jet in the years after he left. office as part of his charity work with. the Clinton Foundation. It's also, you. know, the Clinton Global Initiative. His. name appears on flight logs along with. Secret Service agents. Ghislaine. Maxwell, right? Convicted sex. trafficker, she was connected to the. Clintons, even attended their daughter. Chelsea's wedding. She was a plus one, but anyway. And here's the thing, too. Epstein reportedly donated money that. was connected 1992 presidential campaign. and for Hillary Clinton's Senate. campaign in 2000. And according to ABC.

News, Epstein had visited the White. House multiple times during Bill. Clinton's presidency, signed in on the. visitor logs reportedly 17 occasions. between 1993 and 1995. So, you can. understand why there was a request, more. like a demand, for the Clintons to sit. down, be interviewed, and answer. questions. I mean, President Clinton has. also appeared in a few photos with. Jeffrey Epstein. And there was a very. bizarre, apparently framed portrait of. Clinton wearing a dress, pearls, high. heels. This was apparently hanging in.

Epstein's Manhattan home, very weird. And of course, we know there are the. photos of him in a hot tub. We're going. to talk about that. But, to be clear, there is no evidence that we have seen. or that has been reported by other. outlets in the Epstein files suggesting. the Clintons engaged in any criminality. or had knowledge of any criminality, including what Epstein was accused of. doing. And look, this is strange because. these depositions, we're kind of. analyzing them like a jury would, right? Credibility, body language, responses, but it's not like the Clintons are on.

trial. It's not like they're the subject. of a criminal investigation or anything. like that or facing criminal charges. They're not. But, assessing their. answers is part of the committee's work. in better understanding Epstein's world, what he was up to. And for their. purposes, seeing if there needs to be a. change in the law. Does there need to be. reforms to make sure that there is not. an Epstein 2.0 in the future. But, also. whether or not they can refer any. matters, any criminal matters to the. Department of Justice. So, the committee. members had a lot of questions for the. Clintons, and after months of trying to.

get them on the record, and even there. was this threat to hold them in. contempt, the former president, former. Secretary of State agreed to two 4-hour. depositions in Chappaqua, New York. This. is where they live, at the city's. performing arts center. All right, before we jump back into this, look, it's the new year, although no one's. saying happy New Year's anymore, that'd. be really weird, but the point is if you. have debt right now, the threat to your. financial health stays the same. Look, debt is a silent killer, interest. compounds, fees stack up, your financial. problems multiply, but it doesn't need. to stay that way. Our sponsor, PDS Debt,

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again. Break free in 30 seconds, get. your free personalized assessment, and. the best option for you at. pdsdebt.com/sidebar. That's pdsdebt.com/sidebar. pdsdebt.com/sidebar. Now, I want to dig in here, and we only. scratched kind of the surface yesterday. So, let me first start just a little bit. more with Hillary Clinton, and then. we'll focus more on Bill Clinton. So, Hillary's deposition was first, last. Thursday. The depositions, again, were. filmed. The videos were released Monday. evening, and again, we put out a sidebar.

last night as quickly as possible. We. couldn't get to everything, so here's. something new. This is where Clinton, Hillary Clinton, stated unequivocally. that she had no relationship with. Epstein or Maxwell, and that she didn't. even know most of the people the. committee was asking her about. Madam. Secretary, in the interest of efficiency. here today, uh I'm going to ask you one. question followed by a list of names. Um. the question can be answered yes or no. If you do indicate yes to any. individual, I will come back and revisit.

that at the end. >> [clears throat]. >> The question is, have you ever. communicated with any of the following. people relating to Jeffrey Epstein or. Ghislaine Maxwell? Richard Kahn. No. Darem Endyke. No. Sarah Kellen. No. Doug Band. Not that I recall.

Lawrence Summers. No. Huma Abedin. >> [snorts]. >> Have Have I ever talked to her about. this in preparation for this hearing? I. have. Outside of that? >> Not that I recall. Noam Chomsky. No. Leslie Groth. No. Nadia Marson Cobba. No.

Jean-Luc Brunel. No. I don't know most of these people. Should I tell you that I don't know know. who they are or just tell you I never. talked to them? Just say you never talked to them, that's fine. Alan Dershowitz. No. Cathy Romer. No. Bill Richardson. No. George Mitchell. No. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly.

Prince Andrew. No. As I say, many of. these people I've never heard of. Most. of these people I've never had a. relationship with, although they I know. know name. Some of them are deceased. Uh but I was not communicating about. Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. As I understand what you're asking me, contacting people about them, that did. not happen. Look, that's fair. She's not. connected to Epstein the same way that. her husband apparently was. I mean, she.

reportedly would consistently say to the. committee, "You'll have to ask my. husband." But, I will tell you something. that really only a video playback of a. deposition could capture. Transcript. wouldn't really do this justice. This was fireworks, okay? This moment. Because after about an hour of. testimony, things derailed when it was. discovered that Representative Lauren. Boebert had apparently taken a photo of. Hillary Clinton inside the deposition. room and shared it. Went online. Big. no-no. Because under the rules, there.

really can't be unauthorized photographs. or videos in a closed-door deposition. You're showing me an email from someone. who I don't recall knowing about a. fundraiser that wasn't for me, but was. for Congresswoman Lowey. I have no. information. I I went to the fundraiser. to support my friend Nita Lowey. All right. Um Excuse me, can I. interrupt? I have another. >> that are being released. of the secretary as she is testifying. from inside this room. Can you please. advise me as to whether or not that's.

permissible and consistent with the. rules, particularly given that we have. asked for public hearing? If there are. photos that are being released of the. secretary as she is testifying, can you. please explain how that can happen? >> with this. If you guys are doing that, I. am done. You can hold me in contempt. from now until the cows come home. This. is just typical behavior. >> I will go off the record. I just want to. post one Oh, for heaven's sake. >> like to understand how that's. permissible. It doesn't matter. We all are abiding by. the same rules. I I will take that down.

Yeah, well. >> like to take a break at this moment. I. would like to have I'm done for now. And. Clinton was at times visibly irritated. that she even had to be there as there. had been very little evidence that she. was in fact connected in any way with. Epstein. And after it was over, Clinton. spoke with reporters outside and. referenced the fact that what was. originally proposed as an open public. hearing was changed to a deposition. behind closed doors. Now, you'll hear. the committee ultimately say that's how. they do it. These are the rules. This is. how it happens. You do a private. deposition, then a public hearing. But.

anyway, here's Hillary Clinton. They had. a chance to do it in public, and I wish. they had done it in public, and I think. uh they're making the wrong decisions. avoiding doing it in public. Um. I thought it was very repetitive. I. thought that uh. uh. they asked literally the same question. over and over again, uh which. didn't seem to me to be very productive. Uh and then as I said toward the end, you know, there were other questions. that were totally off uh uh subject. Uh.

so if if they are going to fulfill their. responsibilities uh to. literally investigate the. investigations, which is what they. originally said was the scope of their. uh work, uh I think they could have uh. spent the day more productively. Okay. Now, I want to talk about Bill Clinton. So, the following day, Friday, it was. the former president's turn to face. questioning. Pretty historic to have a. former president sitting down for a. deposition like this. And by the way, this is all under oath. There are always.

potential legal consequences if. someone's not telling the truth. I'm not. saying the Clintons weren't telling the. truth, but that's why it's so. significant, okay? That's why it. matters. That's why it's so important. Now, he did take a moment toward the. beginning to kind of chastise the. committee for dragging his wife into the. frenzy surrounding the Epstein files, and the committee members grilled the. former president about his connection to. Jeffrey Epstein and why Clinton was in. fact associated with him. Although it is. important to point out, Clinton. apparently flew with Epstein on his. private jet in the early 2000s. So, this.

is before Epstein was convicted in. Florida for soliciting prostitution, including that of a minor. I'd like to. start our conversation with a few. foundational questions, so we can just. set the record straight from the very. beginning. With respect to your relationship with. Mr. Epstein, did you ever, at any point during your. interactions with Jeffrey Epstein, know. about the sexual abuse that he was. committing against minors and young. women? No.

Have you ever engaged in sexual activity. with a person introduced to you by. Jeffrey Epstein? >> No. With respect to your relationship with. Ms. Ghislaine Maxwell, did you ever, at any point during your. interactions with Ghislaine Maxwell, know about the sexual abuse that she. committed and facilitated against minors. and young women? No. Have you ever engaged in sexual activity. with a person introduced to you by. Ghislaine Maxwell? >> No.

Have you ever, at any point, visited. Jeffrey Epstein's former estate on. Little St. James Island in the US Virgin. Islands? No. In February of last year, Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Fox. News that you traveled on Mr. Epstein's. plane, {quote} because it supposedly had. a bed in there where Jeffrey Epstein had. young girls. I will ask you, did you fly. on Mr. Epstein's plane because it had a. bed where Jeffrey Epstein had young.

girls? >> No. Are there any other accusations that. have been made against you with respect. to Mr. Epstein that you'd like to. address before we get started with some. chronological questions? Well, I think you pretty well covered. it. And I want to talk about a moment. that has gone very viral. So, Clinton, who's going to turn 80 this year, was. given a few photographs from the Epstein. files to look at, and he seems kind of. to have taken a look at them with a. grin. Now, some online have said it. looks like he's reminiscing. I can't say.

that for sure. But just take a look at. this and also look at his lawyer, too. Mr. President, do you recognize yourself. in this photo? I do. And it appears that. the man on the right of the photo is. Jeffrey Epstein. Is that correct? >> I think so. Have you seen this. photograph before today? Only in this picture. And for the record, what is happening in. this photo? He's. smiling at me. It looks like he's. talking to me.

This is one of the friendly interactions. that you're describing earlier. >> Yes. And can you describe the circumstances. surrounding this photo? >> Are you asking him if he recalls this I. do not. I have no idea. I see Richard Branson in the back and. Okay. Other people. But I don't remember anything about it. And. you appear to be comfortable with Mr. Epstein in this photo. Would you. disagree with that characterization?

>> a characterization. He's already. responded to your question about the. picture. I'm comfortable I'm comfortable here. I'm not happy, but I'm comfortable. >> [laughter]. >> And my conscience is clear if that. helps.

Listen. Let me see it. Okay. Mr. [clears throat] President, we have. about 5 minutes remaining in the.

majority's first hour. And then, President Clinton had this face-off with. Representative Nancy Mace, who has been. very vocal and very frustrated with the. Epstein files. Just take a look at this. Mr. President, Congresswoman Nancy Mace. from South Carolina. Thank you for being. here with us for hours today. Now, it's. been a long day and I know that we're. going to wrap up soon for you. Um, did. you know one of the witnesses who. testified in the Epstein cases that. Epstein said, uh, you quote like them.

young. Why would Epstein say that about. you? >> Are you asking whose opinion? I'm asking him to think about why Mr. Epstein would say something about him. >> Why would Epstein say that about. President. >> me to try to be in Mr. Epstein's mind. and guess at what Mr. Epstein would have. thought about First of. >> What does likes them young referring to. girls? First of all, that's not true. What's not true? That I have any.

interest in underage I didn't say. underage. I said I said young. But it's still not true. Is an intern young? Yes. Okay. And my anybody younger than I. was. >> know Jeffrey Epstein instructed a. witness to deny you were ever on his. island? He didn't have to since I was never. there. And the former president had this. to say when asked about whether current.

president Donald Trump should sit down. for his own deposition because as you. know, Trump himself is mentioned. numerous times in the Epstein files and. there were even uncorroborated. allegations of him participating in. sexual abuse. We believe, in the. minority, that President Trump should. also answer this committee's questions. He's someone that is mentioned almost. more than any other person beside. Ghislaine Maxwell. in the FC documents. And so we would to get more information.

for this investigation, was wondering if. you also agree that that President Trump. should answer questions of this. committee. That's for you to decide what he did. knowing well and. I want to have a brief discussion with. him about it. Thank you. Thanks for the answer. With. that I'm going to go to Mr. Watkinshaw. and we'll go down the series of. questions. I I I I hate this but because I don't. believe I should inject anything.

But I do not want to leave the. impression. the sense there was no follow-up. question. He never the president never This is 27. years ago. Never said anything to me to make me. think he was involved in anything. improper with regard to. to. Epstein either. He He just didn't He. just said we were friends. and then we had a falling out over a. land deal, property deal.

That's all. By the way, speaking of. President Trump, Clinton talked about. what he knew of Epstein and Trump's. apparent friendship and what Trump. himself told him about his quote great. times with Epstein. So he then Donald. Trump gave him the golf course in New. York to. have a tournament on and I played in it. a couple times and. the. the day I was there he would typically. uh Donald Trump would come out and play.

a few holes with us. And he. somehow knew I had flown in Jeffrey. Epstein's aircraft and he said, "You. know, we had some. great times together over the years, but. we fell out. All because of a real estate deal. And he said, "I'm sorry it happened. That's all.". Do you recall whether President Trump. was the first one to affirmatively bring. up the subject of Jeffrey Epstein?

No, but I'd be shocked if I did. I I. just don't do that. I don't you know. Do you recall whether President Trump. elaborated at all on the great times. that he had with Jeffrey Epstein? No, and I took at the time I took no. I didn't put any. you know. sexual spin on it. And as far as you. recall, President Trump characterized. the nature of the ending of their. friendship as being solely due to the.

real estate ending. That's what he said. Now Clinton also had to address the now. infamous photo of him in a pool or hot. tub with the other person in the photo. redacted out. Looks very questionable. Well, Clinton explains that he believes. this photo was taken in Brunei at the. end of a long trip around Asia for the. Clinton Foundation. What we're trying to. get out is some context for the public. on whether you remember this photo. uh and any details you may be able to.

provide us about it. So, do you recall the details of this. photo or recall the photo being taken? No, I don't think I ever knew the photo. >> was taken. Okay, and and um for those. who can't see it, it's a photo of you in. a hot tub. There's a person next to you. here. Um. do you remember where it was taken? I. don't know. Where was it taken? I'm almost sure that. this taken I think there's an adjacent. photograph which you probably have. And if people saw it, they would feel.

that someone was trying to calm them. showing this picture. But anyway, this. picture was taken. uh in Brunei. And. we flew one night. That's. on a trip to Asia, the last very long. leg. You said we, is it who who is that. including? Well, my travel team that was.

working Thank you. on the Asia issue and. and Mr. Epstein was there and all that. And Miss Maxwell, but. anyway, we got to the end of. the end of the flight was Brunei. It's a tiny place, but a very wealthy. one and the Sultan of Brunei. was a man that I had gotten to know well. in my eight years as president. And he. said he wanted to help me with the. my Asia initiative and he invited me to. stay there.

And he said, "I want you to stay at this. hotel and I hope you will be using the. the pool.". So, I did. And then I got out and. went to bed exhausted. Just for the record, there's another. picture that also shows this as part of. the larger pool area. Do you all have. that so that he can refresh his. recollection with respect to that? You. sure have it. It's uh. It's quite enlightening. If you watch. this. Yes, it's noted. It'll give you a.

different view. Thank you. Okay. Uh we. do have we don't have it with us right. now. Okay. We do. Thanks. I just wanted. to make sure he knew that. Also, I just. were there other people in that pool or. hot tub with you as well? I don't think there was anybody in the. hot tub. Uh I don't even I didn't. forgotten that there was anybody in the. hot tub, but it was big, but it was. about. Well, there's He's asking in the pool. area. >> there's a There's a photo There's a girl. over here or there's someone Yeah, I. don't know who that is. But he's also. asking in the pool area were there other. individuals. >> don't know I don't know is. Okay. So,

you you don't know. >> No, and then then there were other. people in the pool. Okay, so do you remember who. Were they under 18 when you go? No. Were. they part of your traveling party, he's. asking you. Yes, they were, I think. I think. everybody there was part of our party. It was late at night and. our location. I also believe that there was a Secret. Service agent there at the other end of. the pool. And was this in public?

No, it was a hotel room and it. the Sultan wanted us to stay there and. the whole the water, this big pool, was. on the same floor. That there were several suites in that. So, we went out, I swam around, I sat in the. hot tub for. 5 minutes I guess or whatever it was and. I got up and went to bed. And then after after this, did you. engage in any sexual activity with this. person? >> Thank you. And of course, attention was.

also called to a photo of a. young-looking female giving President. Clinton a neck rub or back rub as he. sits in a chair. At any point did you or. other male passengers receive a massage. from this young woman or any other young. women who are described as a masseuse? Well, I've seen one picture that shows. it in a. airport. waiting area. One of the women I was with maybe was.

massaging my neck. That's all I've seen. Have you received um more than one. massage from these trips. uh with Mr. Epstein and the young girls. that were present? I don't recall them, but I I. The problem I remember for that trip was. that my neck had spasm and I was in. And so, they offered to help and I let. them help. This was interesting cuz. Clinton at one point described Epstein.

as being like a vacuum cleaner, always. looking to suck up as much information. as possible from those around him. How. would you describe the substance of your. conversations with Jeffrey Epstein. during the many hours that you spent. together on aircraft? Well, at first, he really seemed to be like a vacuum. cleaner. Like, he really wanted. information. And there was no uh.

to go back to the. the business with the. what do you call it? The passport. The false thing. There was nothing uh. overtly manipulative about it. He just. he wanted to know, you know, what did I think of. derivatives trading. What I think that the stock market was. properly regulated or that it needed. more.

>> [snorts]. >> What uh. if he, you know, how did we have the most broadly shared. prosperity in 50 years? Was it just an. accident? Was it just technology? Or do. we have specific policies? He wanted to. know stuff like that. And it was great for the first, you know, two, three, four, five. conversations. But I could tell that. it was like. I mean, you guys are in politics. Don't.

you ever feel like sometimes somebody's. talking to you, and then they're just. checking a box, and they got to go do. something else, and be somebody else? And then that's the way I felt. >> That's important, cuz again, we're. trying to understand what was Epstein. after, right? And after a long 4 and 1/2. hours, the deposition was concluded. As. we start to close, is there anything you. would like to add or clarify about what. you've said here today. You're good. Well, you're good. I think we're fine. I have.

I. I'm struggling. because it's hard to know exactly what I. knew when I knew it. given what I've learned since. It's become a. kind of a. compelling challenge. Uh but I've tried. to. tell you what I knew then and. when you ask what I think now. I think you have. all of you, Mr. Chairman.

You've had a of. chronologically challenging thing. You've got all the stuff that happened. with Jeffrey Epstein. Some of it. uh as regards President Trump going back. to the late '90s. And that's a long time ago. And. then what we learned later. It's It's. It's been difficult. But I have. enjoyed it. You've been very. respectful to me and given me a chance. to talk to you.

Well, we thank you for your time. >> wish you well. I. I still will say. if you can think of some things to do. that will reduce the incidence. of trafficking in America. And. it should be possible for us to. virtually eliminate underage. abuse. It should be.

We just got to figure out what kind of. technology we need and what kind of. policies. So, thank you. So, look, at. the end of the day, where do we go from. here? Again, it's not like Bill and. Hillary spoke in front of a jury in an. active trial. I haven't heard any. blatant outright calls saying they. misrepresented what happened or weren't. telling the truth or allegations of. perjury. It seems the committee took. their responses for now. They're moving. forward to get a better understanding of. the Epstein situation. Maybe more of an. explanation of what Epstein was a part.

of, why he wanted to have a connection. with the Clintons, other well-known. people. And to be fair also, I think it. would be rather difficult to impeach the. credibility of the Clintons. You're. talking about episodes from a very long. time ago. And again, to be clear, there. is no evidence of any active criminal. investigation into the Clintons. But, this Epstein probe is as much about the. American people getting a front-row view. of all of the materials and all of the. depositions and all of the testimony, so. they can make a judgment as to what.

happened here. And this is just as much. as about Congress and potentially. prosecutors or law enforcement moving. forward in any way, if that happens. That's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so. much for joining us. And as always, [music] please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, you can get. your podcast. You can also follow us on. NBC's Peacock. We got Sidebar episodes. up there as well. If you want to follow. me, X, Instagram. [music] My NewsNation. show, Jesse Weber LIVE, Monday through. Friday at 11:00 p.m. Eastern. I'll see. you next time, everybody.