Former President Bill Clinton had to testify to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee about his disgraceful relationship with the infamous Jeffrey Epstein, and during that testimony claimed, absurdly, given how close he was to the deceased financier and pedophile, to have had “no idea” about Epstein’s crimes.
He naturally faced backlash for that pleading of innocence. That, in turn, led to ABC’s “The View” co-host Whoopi Goldberg, who has faced Epstein-connected scrutiny of her own tied to her attempted use of Epstein’s jet, jumping in to defend the president and his claims of ignorance.
As background, former President Clinton, during the hearing, claimed that he had “no idea” about the crimes Jeffrey Epstein was committing. Further, he claimed that he never saw Epstein do anything that “ever gave me pause”, another absurd claim given Epstein’s conviction in the early 2000s and general notoriety.
Continuing, Clinton tried to paint himself as a sympathetic victim, saying, “As someone who grew up in a home with domestic abuse, not only would I not have flown on his plane if I had any inkling of what he was doing — I would have turned him in myself and led the call for justice for his crimes, not sweetheart deals.”
He further said, “I hope that by being here today, we can bring ourselves a little further away from the brink and back to being a country where we can disagree with one another civilly–where the search for truth and justice outweighs the partisan urge to score points and create spectacle.”
Whoopi, speaking about the matter on Tuesday, March 3, seemed to buy Bill’s claim of innocence. She said, “You know, say what you want about the Clintons. Have any of the women or has anything in those emails pointed to them as being guilty or having anything to do other than knowing?”
Continuing, Whoopi then doubled down on that same point, asking “But my question is, has he been accused by any of the accusers?” She further asked, on much the same note, questioning the victims of Epstein and saying, “Has any of the women come out and said, ‘This is what Bill Clinton did’?”
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The other co-hosts chimed in to respond, “No.” That, in turn, led to Whoopi continuing to ramble about Bill Clinton’s innocence, saying, “So what were they looking [at]? Because… what I don’t understand is they had access to all the information.” Watch her here:
Previously, Whoopi’s “The View” co-host Sara Haines had said the Clintons should have to testify, saying that their initial refusal made them look very guilty, “As someone who wants to see everything in the Epstein files and wants every single person held accountable, I think the Clintons should show up.”
She further added, noting the essentially non-partisan nature of the subpoena demanding their testimony, “It was a unanimous vote to subpoena them, and regardless of these affidavits or anything else, I think when people don’t show up, it makes them look guiltier than they are.”