WASHINGTON: Former president Bill Clinton told lawmakers that President Donald Trump told him he had “some great times” with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein before their relationship soured, according to a video released on Tuesday.
In a videotaped deposition to the House of Representatives Oversight Committee, the former Democratic president said under oath that Trump brought up Epstein at a golf tournament in 2002 or 2003, after Clinton left office and more than a decade before Trump was elected president.
“Somehow he knew I had flown in Jeffrey Epstein’s aircraft,” Clinton told the committee. “He said, ‘You know, we had some great times together over the years, but we fell out all because of a real estate deal.’”
Trump has said the relationship soured after Epstein hired young women who worked at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club.
Clinton said the exchange did not lead him to believe Trump was involved with anything improper involving Epstein.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Both Clinton and Trump associated with Epstein before the well-connected financier pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution from a minor.
Both have repeatedly said they did not see any evidence of sex trafficking, and neither has been accused by authorities of criminal activity related to Epstein, who entertained a long list of business and financial leaders at his lavish residences in New York, Florida and the Caribbean.
