NPR’s Michel Martin speaks with political consultant and longtime Clinton ally Paul Begala about the depositions of former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
We wanted to get another perspective on the Clintons’ deposition, so we’ve called Paul Begala. He’s a longtime political strategist who helped orchestrate Bill Clinton’s presidential win in 1992 and worked in the Clinton White House as counselor to the president. Good morning, Paul Begala. Thanks so much for joining us.
PAUL BEGALA: Thanks, Michel.
MARTIN: So what do you make of what happened yesterday?
BEGALA: (Laughter) I can’t wait for the tape. I’m laughing because I don’t know if you’ve ever argued with Hillary Clinton, but I have. It doesn’t go well. She’s brilliant. She’s focused. And – but she was pretty annoyed, I’m quite sure. So I can’t wait to see it. I mean, it’s an unpleasant thing. I’m sorry my friend had to go through it. But I have very little doubt that they finished that hearing with tire tracks across their faces because I think she just ran right over them.
MARTIN: Well, some senior Democrats like Nancy Pelosi said everybody associated with Epstein should be deposed regardless of party. So – and on that basis, do you think it was fair that they were called?
BEGALA: Well, it just dragged them in. They weren’t associated, especially Hillary. But they’re not associated. They didn’t have anything useful to report. If this were an on-the-level investigation, absolutely. But when Leslie Wexner – the millionaire who was much more closely tied to Mr. Epstein – he was deposed, no Republicans showed up, and he probably had useful information. So it’s not on the level. They’re just dragging the Clintons in ’cause they’re famous Democrats.
MARTIN: Well, I take your point. I mean, Hillary Clinton said yesterday she never met Epstein, but it is the case that former President Clinton was pictured with Epstein. He flew on his plane multiple times. He contributed to Epstein’s 50th birthday book in 2003. And both the former president and the former secretary of state did benefit from Epstein’s political donations back in the 1990s. Visitor logs obtained by the Daily Mail said that Epstein made 17 trips to the White House during the Clinton administration. So on that basis?
BEGALA: Oh, they should – they can ask them about all that. I suspect those White House trips were, like, for donors to the Historical Association and things like that. But the – Bill Clinton is the only guy in this whole sordid disgusting affair who hasn’t had to change his story. He’s the only guy who hasn’t lied. He said, I never went to Epstein’s island. I never went to Epstein’s ranch. I never knew about any of his crimes, and I cut off contact with him long before he died.
By the way, Susie Wiles, President Trump’s chief of staff, has said, yeah, Trump was wrong. Clinton never went to Epstein’s Island, and she claimed that she’d seen all the files. So he’s the only guy as more and more information has come out, has been proved to have been telling the truth from the beginning. And, believe me, if there was something more in those files that could damage Bill Clinton, I do trust the Trump Justice Department to put that out.
MARTIN: So we just heard that Republican committee chair James Comer said that many of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s – former First Lady Hillary Clinton’s answers were essentially, so ask Bill, ask the former president. Do you expect that he will give some substantive answers today that we might hear more about? And do you think that that testimony, his testimony, at some point will also be made public?
BEGALA: Oh, I want it all made public, and I’m sure the president does – former president. I – of course, he’s going to answer all their questions. But his – he – again, his story hasn’t changed. He just doesn’t have any useful information. He didn’t really know the guy. He never went to his island. He never went to his ranch. He never knew anything about his crimes and cut off all contact with him.
I think the real problem here strategically is that this means Donald Trump is going to have to testify, right? There used to be a precedent, the Trump precedent. The January 6 Committee subpoenaed Trump. He was a former president. He not only refused to obey the subpoena, he sued the committee. Because no – except for Gerald Ford once, no former president has ever testified to Congress. OK. That was the Trump rule. Well, now there’s a Clinton rule. And Donald Trump’s going to have to live by that Clinton rule. In 1,057 days, he will no longer be president. It’ll be a Saturday. The sun will shine. The birds will chirp.
MARTIN: OK.
BEGALA: And former President Trump will be subpoenaed to tell what he knows about the Epstein crimes.
MARTIN: Why do you think it – I mean, Congressman Robert Garcia, a Democrat, wants reporters admitted to hear it – to the room to hear former President Clinton’s deposition? Why do you think the Republicans keep rejecting that?
BEGALA: I don’t know. I – this is the first group of clowns that didn’t want an audience. I think that’s why. I mean, Hillary said that they asked her about UFOs and about this horrible Pizzagate lie, conspiracy theory. I believe that it’s because they probably don’t conduct themselves with the kind of professionalism that we saw, say, in the January 6 committee, which all of their hearings, so far as I know, were public.
MARTIN: So before we let you go, I’m sure you’ve heard an NPR investigation found that files related to President Trump – Epstein Files – are missing from the public record. How do you advise Democrats to proceed to have those files released?
BEGALA: I think they just keep having to press. I would caution them not to jump to any conclusions at all ’cause they don’t know what’s in them either. But I think we have a right to see them. I think the American people and, God knows, those survivors have a right to see what’s in those files. And I think that that’s something that they’re going to keep pressing. And again, I think the Democrats are going to win the midterms, and then they’ll have real subpoena power.
MARTIN: OK.
BEGALA: And they’ll get them.
MARTIN: That is Paul Begala. He’s a former adviser to President Bill Clinton. Mr. Begala, thank you.
BEGALA: Thanks, Michel.
Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
