House Republicans release video of Clinton depositions : NPR

Republicans on the House Oversight Committee have released video of depositions with former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton conducted as part of the panel’s investigation into the Jeffrey Epstein files.

The Clintons were deposed separately last week behind closed doors, testimony that came after they unsuccessfully fought a subpoena by the Republican-controlled committee. The pair ultimately agreed to sit for hours of depositions after they were threatened with contempt of Congress charges, though they had asked to testify in public.

Over hours of testimony, the Clintons both denied knowledge of Epstein’s crimes prior to his pleading guilty in 2008 to state charges in Florida for soliciting prostitution from an underage girl.

“I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong,” the former president said in an opening statement shared ahead of his deposition Friday in the Clintons’ hometown of Chappaqua, N.Y.

While neither Clinton has been accused of any wrongdoing, Bill Clinton shows up several times in the trove of Epstein records that has been released by the committee, including in photos.

The former president told the committee he met Epstein in 2001 or 2002 after having left the White House. Clinton said he was introduced by Larry Summers, his onetime Treasury Secretary whose own ties to Epstein have come under sharp scrutiny in recent months.  He described their relationship as “cordial,” but said he would not describe him as a friend. 

Clinton says he cut ties with Epstein prior to his 2008 conviction, and that while he did travel on Epstein’s plane, that travel was carried out as part of his humanitarian work for the Clinton Foundation.

“I thought we had an understanding about the airplane that —that he would let me use the airplane to set up my AIDS program around the world if I agreed to talk to him about economics and politics.”

Bill Clinton said he kept his word — but they never talked about sensitive government topics.

The former president told the committee that initially, he thought Epstein was “an interesting man.” But he said, “there’s nothing that I saw when I was around him that made me realize he was trafficking women.” Clinton said he never witnessed Epstein abuse young women or girls, nor did he discuss sexual acts with him. 

At one point in the deposition, Clinton was asked about a photo from the files showing him in a hot tub seated next to an unidentified person. He said the photo was taken while on a trip to Brunei for the Clinton Foundation’s AIDS initiative. Clinton said he was there with his traveling party, but did not know the other person in the photo and told the committee he did not engage in any sexual activity with the person. 

In her own testimony on Thursday, Hillary Clinton denied ever having met Epstein. Speaking to reporters after her deposition, Clinton said she answered every one of the committee’s questions as fully as she could, reiterating she had no prior relationship with the convicted sex offender.

“I never met Jeffrey Epstein, never had any connection or communication with him,” she said. Clinton said she did know Epstein’s former associate Ghislaine Maxwell, but described her as a casual acquaintance.

When asked about her relationship with Epstein, the former secretary of state said: “I don’t recall ever talking to Mr. Epstein. He wasn’t on my radar. He wasn’t somebody I had any connection to.”

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks to the press after her a deposition with the House Oversight Committee in Chappaqua, New York, on February 26, 2026.

Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images

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Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images

The Clintons spent weeks fighting the panel’s subpoenas, but the former president says he agreed to testify because, “America was built on the idea that no person is above the law, even presidents – especially presidents.”

That is an argument that Democrats on the committee have seized on, arguing that Clinton’s appearance before the committee sets a precedent that should require President Trump to ultimately answer questions from lawmakers.

Like Clinton, President Trump also appears in the files and similarly denies having had any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes. But Democrats say they have questions for Trump, including why Epstein files related to President Trump are missing from the public record, as NPR has previously reported.

Sam Gringlas contributed to this report