What Bill Clinton Said Under Oath About Donald Trump And Jeffrey Epstein’s Relationship

The House Oversight Committee has released video of former President Bill Clinton’s deposition in the Jeffrey Epstein investigation. In sworn testimony Clinton described a conversation with Donald Trump that occurred on Trump’s golf course during a Joe Torre charity tournament more than 20 years ago.

Transcript

PRESIDENT CLINTON: I don’t want to leave the impression—since there was no follow-up—that the president, 20-some years ago, ever said anything to me that made me think he was involved in anything improper with regard to Epstein. He didn’t. He just said, “We were friends and then we had a falling out over a land deal, a property deal.” That’s all.

MINORITY COUNSEL: What were the circumstances of that conversation?

PRESIDENT CLINTON: We were at his golf course. For a couple of years, Joe Torre, who had managed the Yankees and was a friend, held a charity tournament called the Safe at Home Foundation to combat domestic violence. I wanted to support it. Donald Trump gave him the golf course in New York, and I played in it a couple of times.

The day I was there, he came out and played a few holes with us. He somehow knew I had flown on Jeffrey Epstein’s aircraft. 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.

MINORITY COUNSEL: Do you recall whether President Trump was the first to bring up Jeffrey Epstein?

PRESIDENT CLINTON: No, but I’d be shocked if I did. I just don’t do that.

MINORITY COUNSEL: Did President Trump elaborate on the “great times” he mentioned?

PRESIDENT CLINTON: No. At the time, I didn’t put any sexual spin on it.

MINORITY COUNSEL: He characterized the end of their friendship as solely due to a real estate deal?

PRESIDENT CLINTON: That’s what he said. I didn’t think much about it at the time. It lasted about two minutes, and then we were gone.

MINORITY COUNSEL: Your best recollection of when this occurred?

PRESIDENT CLINTON: 2002 or 2003.

Annotations/Notes

• The conversation took place on Donald Trump’s golf course during the Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation charity tournament, an annual event that raised money to fight domestic violence.
• Trump donated use of his Trump National Golf Club in New York for the tournament; Clinton said he played in it a couple of times over the years.
• Trump approached Clinton on the course after noticing he had flown on Jeffrey Epstein’s plane and said they had “great times together” before a real estate deal ended their friendship.
• That deal was the November 2004 bankruptcy auction for the Maison de l’Amitié, a 6-acre oceanfront estate in Palm Beach, Florida. Trump and Epstein entered a bidding war; Trump won with a final bid of $41.35 million. The auction is widely reported as the moment their friendship ended.
• Clinton testified under oath that the conversation happened in 2002 or 2003. However, the real estate deal did not take place until November 2004, and the Joe Torre tournament at Trump’s course began around that same time (first annual event in 2004, with later documented appearances in 2008 and 2009).
• Clinton has noted he played the event multiple times, so the brief exchange he described could have occurred at one of the tournaments after the 2004 deal.
• The entire conversation lasted roughly two minutes and was started by Trump, according to Clinton’s sworn testimony.