Former President Bill Clinton testified under oath Friday before the Republican-led House Oversight Committee in a historic closed-door deposition related to its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. The session took place at the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center in New York and had been ongoing for more than five hours by late afternoon.

In his opening statement, Clinton maintained that his acquaintance with Epstein was brief and ended years before the financier's 2008 guilty plea to sex crimes. "I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong," he said, adding that he had "no idea" about Epstein's crimes and observed nothing that gave him pause. Citing his childhood experience with domestic abuse, Clinton stated he would have "turned him in myself" if aware of the abuse.

Sources familiar with the testimony told CNN that Clinton denied knowing or having sexual relations with a woman pictured with him in a jacuzzi in files released by the Justice Department. Lawmakers questioned him on flight logs, visitor records, photographs involving Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, and emails related to the Clinton Global Initiative and Clinton Foundation.

The deposition marks the first time a former president has been compelled to testify before Congress under subpoena in more than 40 years. It followed a similar session on Thursday with Hillary Clinton, which lasted over six hours and was filmed for potential public release. The Clintons initially resisted the subpoenas, calling the probe partisan, but agreed to appear after the committee threatened contempt proceedings.

House Oversight Chairman James Comer, a Republican, said both parties asked questions during Clinton's testimony, which was expected to extend into the evening. Comer noted Clinton deferred to the committee on whether President Donald Trump should testify, stating Trump "has never said anything to me to make me think he was involved." Democrats, including Rep. Robert Garcia, pushed for Trump to appear and accused Republicans of rule-breaking by leaking details.

The probe examines Epstein's ties to powerful figures and whether he ran an intelligence operation targeting elites. Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, had visited the White House multiple times during Clinton's presidency. Neither Clinton has been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein's crimes. Maxwell, Epstein's associate, is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking.

Clinton used his remarks to criticize the committee for subpoenaing his wife, insisting she had no involvement with Epstein. "Whether you subpoenaed 10 people or 10,000, including her, was simply not right," he said. The proceedings, including video and transcripts, are set to be released publicly.