President Donald Trump declared Friday he had been “fully exonerated” in the Jeffrey Epstein investigation while answering reporters just before departing for Corpus Christi, Texas.
“I don’t know anything about the Epstein files,” Trump told the press gaggle. “You know, I’ve been fully exonerated.”
Previously unsealed court documents related to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein list Trump among high-profile figures in flight logs and contact records, though inclusion does not necessarily indicate wrongdoing.
Trump has repeatedly denied any involvement in Epstein’s criminal conduct and stated he cut ties with the disgraced financier years before Epstein’s legal troubles became public knowledge.
He also reacted to news that former President Bill Clinton testified under oath before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Friday.
“I don’t like seeing him deposed, but, you know, they certainly went after me a lot more than that,” Trump said.
In a closed-door session in Chappaqua, New York, the 42nd president answered questions from federal lawmakers about his relationship with Epstein from over two decades ago, stating he “did nothing wrong.”
Bill Clinton’s deposition marks the first time a former president has been compelled to testify before Congress, coming a day after his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, sat with lawmakers and provided her own deposition.
Neither Bill Clinton nor Hillary Clinton have been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.
Lawmakers are examining what accountability should look like for prominent figures who maintained ties with Epstein after he pleaded guilty in 2008 to Florida state charges of soliciting prostitution from a minor.
Trump, who has long blasted investigations targeting himself and his associates, said he does not take satisfaction in seeing the former president questioned under oath.
“I like him, and I don’t like seeing him deposed,” Trump stated.
