Former President Bill Clinton testified before the House Oversight Committee on Friday, February 27, 2026, denying any wrongdoing related to his relationship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The deposition, which took place in a closed-door setting in Chappaqua, New York, marks the first time a former president has been compelled to testify before Congress in more than 40 years, highlighting the intense scrutiny surrounding the Epstein case and its connections to prominent figures.
Clinton stated, “I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong,” according to statements released following the hearing. He acknowledged knowing and traveling with Epstein, but insisted his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, had “nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein” and “no memory of even meeting him.” He criticized the committee’s decision to subpoena his wife for questioning, stating, “Whether you subpoena 10 people or 10,000, including her was simply not right.”
The former president too drew on his personal history to express his condemnation of Epstein’s crimes. “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,” Clinton said in a statement posted on X. He added that he would not speculate about events from years ago, stating he would not “speculate or guess” under oath about interactions that occurred in the past.
Hillary Clinton testified before the committee for approximately six hours on Thursday, February 26, 2026, regarding her knowledge of Epstein and his associate, Ghislaine Maxwell. Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., indicated that the panel was “not satisfied” with the answers provided during her testimony.
The deposition comes after a seven-month effort to secure the Clintons’ testimony, with Republicans initially threatening a contempt of Congress vote. Both Bill and Hillary Clinton initially resisted the subpoena before ultimately agreeing to comply. Comer told reporters ahead of Bill Clinton’s appearance, “It took seven months — seven months — to acquire the Clintons in here, but we got them in here.”
Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, who attended part of the deposition, described Clinton as “very cooperative” and said she believed he was being “pretty transparent.”
Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump expressed regret over Clinton’s testimony, stating, “I like him, and I don’t like seeing him testify under oath.” He also asserted that he himself had faced greater pressure in similar investigations.
Numerous photos from the Epstein files depict Clinton with the convicted sex offender. Images include Clinton in a whirlpool and swimming alongside a woman believed to be Ghislaine Maxwell. Clinton confirmed traveling on Epstein’s private plane in the early 2000s, but said it was related to work for his charitable foundation and that he never visited Epstein’s private island.
The House Oversight Committee’s investigation into Epstein’s network continues, with a focus on understanding the full extent of his crimes and the involvement of other individuals. Clinton called for the committee to question Trump under oath regarding his own appearances in the Epstein files, stating the panel should ask the former president “the tens of thousands of times he appears in the Epstein files.”
Epstein was first convicted in 2008 of soliciting prostitution from a minor and served 13 months in jail as part of a controversial non-prosecution agreement. He was arrested again in 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges and died by suicide in a New York jail while awaiting trial.
