Former President Bill Clinton suggested to members of the House Oversight Committee that he first met the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein after being connected by his former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, according to video released Monday of last week’s closed-door depositions of the ex-president and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
“He was calling because a man named Jeffrey Epstein, who had made a substantial commitment of several million dollars … to brain research, and he was an information hungry person, and he wanted to spend some time talking to me about economics and politics,” Clinton said, shedding light for the first time on the origin of their relationship.
“He said he’s got this massive airplane, and he said he would take you, your staff, your Secret Service detail, anybody else you wanted to bring on the trips that he knew I was planning to set up a global network to provide lifesaving AIDS medicine to as many people as possible, as quickly as possible,” Clinton said.
The Republican-led committee questioned each of the Clintons individually last week in their hometown of Chappaqua, New York, as part of an inquiry into the federal government’s handling of investigations into Epstein and his convicted co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell.
The deposition of Bill Clinton on Friday marked the first time a former president was compelled to testify before a congressional committee.
“Did you witness anything unusual with Epstein that would lead you to believe that Epstein was creepy?” he was asked.
“No, I never saw him do anything that I was suspicious,” Clinton responded.
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released the video of the Feb. 27, 2026 deposition of former President Bill Clinton, Mar. 2, 2026.
@GOPoversight
However, Clinton said he found Epstein to be “odd.”
“I felt friendly toward him, but he was, as I said in my book, odd. There was always something a little holding back. And he, and I could tell,” Clinton said.
While Clinton acknowledged a photograph showing him and Epstein in the White House in 1993, the former president said he did not remember Epstein from the encounter, which he said was a generic meet-and-greet with donors.
“I first remember meeting him when I got on his airplane to take the first trip with my foundation in, I think 2002, whatever it was,” Clinton said.
When asked about Epstein’s wealth, Clinton said he believed he got most of his money from retail billionaire Leslie Wexner, who was deposed by the committee last month.
“I knew that he had made an extraordinary amount of money from Les Wexner who was quite wealthy. I had no idea whether he had made enough to support the lifestyle that I saw,” Clinton said.
Epstein’s planes
Flight logs from Epstein’s private jets show that Bill Clinton and his entourage took four international trips in 2002 and 2003 on the financier’s Boeing 727 to locations including Bangkok, Brunei, Rwanda, Russia, China and elsewhere, as part of what Clinton has described as trips for the Clinton Foundation, the nonprofit humanitarian organization he founded after he left the presidency in 2001.
Clinton, in his deposition, acknowledged that Epstein was on most of the flights he took using his plane, and claimed that his team spent most of the time onboard preparing for the next stop, sleeping, and playing cards.
Clinton said he asked Epstein about why he was loaning his private jet, and the disgraced financier claimed he wanted to better understand Clinton’s success as Democratic politician.
“He said I think you did a good job as president and you managed to get reelected and you’re the first Democrat in 60 years to get reelected. I want to know what happened and I want to understand it,” Clinton said. “And that was it. I mean, he never was, you know, it was never like he was trying to suck up to me or anything. He just was, it was very straightforward. And, but after a while it was obvious that he had done what he intended to do, and he was kind of going through the motions and he didn’t really care about what I really cared about.”
Epstein’s birthday book
When asked about the note that Bill Clinton wrote for Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday book, the former president said he was trying to reflect his belief that Epstein was a curious and interesting person.
“I thought Epstein was interesting and curious. So, I wrote a letter that I thought reflected that,” Clinton said.
“Can you elaborate on what made him interesting and curious?” Clinton was asked.
“No more than I’ve already said,” he responded.
The text of the Clinton’s letter, which was released by the House Oversight Committee, read: ‘Jeffrey — Happy 50th — It’s reassuring isn’t it, to have lasted as long, across all the years of learning and knowing, adventures and [illegible], and also to have your childlike curiosity, the drive to make a difference and the solace of friends — Bill Clinton”
Clinton denied that the letter in any way referenced “inappropriate activities” involving underage girls.
“I was requested to contribute a nice letter for his birthday book,” he said. “Not a bad letter.”
Asked, with the benefit of hindsight, if there were things you witnessed that could have suggested that Epstein was trafficking and sexually abusing young women and girls, Clinton, after pausing for a few seconds, replied, “I do not believe so
‘I am so tired of answering that question’
Hillary Clinton told the committee that she believed President Donald Trump should “absolutely” be deposed as part of their inquiry.
She said that the number of times Trump appears in the files and his past interactions with the legal system — including his conviction in New York for falsifying business records and civil cases with columnist E. Jean Caroll — makes him a key witness for the committee.
“If I were running the committee, or I were involved in this investigation, I would be looking for people who maybe had some prior conduct that might be relevant to either money or crimes. And yes, I think that it would be in keeping with the scope of the investigation of this committee to set up a deposition with President Trump,” she said. “I’m not saying you’re going to get a lot of information, but given what’s in the files, and given past and prior conduct, he would be on my witness list.”
Clinton appeared frustrated with what she described as the committee’s repetitive questions.
“You have said that you have never been to Mr. Epstein’s island. Is that correct?” she was asked.
“I am so tired of answering that question. If you have one scintilla of evidence to the contrary, put it forward. I have never been on his island. Period. I’ve never been in his homes, his offices, his anything. I don’t know how many times you have to say the same thing over and over and over again. And I just am struggling with the relevance of all of this,” she said.
‘I’m here to offer what little I know’
The former president began his appearance by acknowledging that the Oversight Committee’s desire to question him was justified while also distancing himself from Epstein.
“Through my brief acquaintance with Jeffrey Epstein, though it ended years before his crimes came to light, and though I never witnessed during our limited interactions any indication of what was going on, I’m here to offer what little I know so I can do my part to prevent something like this from happening again,” Bill Clinton said.
“I think you should have called me. I did take those plane trips with him and you have a right to ask those questions,” he added.
He also criticized the Oversight Committee for subpoenaing and questioning Hillary Clinton, arguing she had nothing to do with Epstein.
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released the video of the Feb. 26, 2026 deposition of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Mar. 2, 2026.
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“I have to just say one personal thing. Since Hillary came in yesterday, she had nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein. Nothing,” he said.
During her opening statement Thursday, Hillary Clinton argued that the committee was attempting to protect “one political party and one public official rather than to seek truth and justice for the victims.”
“You have made little effort to call the people who show up most prominently in the Epstein files. And when you did, not a single Republican member showed up for Les Wexner’s deposition,” she said of the former Epstein associate. “This institutional failure is designed to protect one political party and one public official rather than to seek truth and justice for the victims and survivors as well as inform the public who want to get to the bottom of this matter. “
President Donald Trump has denied any wrongdoing related to Epstein.
“I don’t know how many times I had to say I did not know Jeffrey Epstein. I never went to his island. I never went to his homes, I never went to his offices. So it’s on the record numerous times,” Hillary Clinton told reporters after her closed-door session with the committee concluded Thursday.
In prepared opening remarks Clinton denied any knowledge of the crimes committed by Epstein, going on to say making his wife Hillary Clinton testify “was simply not right.”
In his statement as released, he stated that he would often say, “I do not recall” throughout his questioning because the events were “all a long time ago.”
“I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong,” Clinton said, according to the statement.
Neither Bill Clinton nor Hillary Clinton has been accused of wrongdoing and both deny having any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.
No Epstein survivor or associate has ever made a public allegation of wrongdoing or inappropriate behavior by the former president or his wife in connection with his prior relationship with Epstein.
Bill Clinton said in his opening statement that he had “no idea of the crimes Epstein was committing.”
The Clintons were subpoenaed to appear under oath in front of the committee for a deposition in January, but failed to comply, arguing the subpoenas were without legal merit. Rather, they proposed a four-hour transcribed interview instead.
Following the Clintons’ refusal to appear, the Oversight Committee passed the contempt resolution with nine Democrats voting in favor of it, teeing it up for a full House vote.
At the last minute, just before the resolution was to be voted on in the House, the Clintons agreed to sit for a deposition, postponing further consideration of a contempt vote.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
ABC News’ Sasha Pezenik, Laura Romero, Armando Garcia and Nathan Lee contributed to this report.
