Hillary Clinton testifies she has no information on Epstein's crimes and
doesn't recall meeting him
[February 27, 2026]
By STEPHEN GROVES
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told members
of Congress on Thursday that she had no knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein’s
or Ghislaine Maxwell’s crimes, starting off two days of depositions that
will also include former President Bill Clinton.
“I had no idea about their criminal activities. I do not recall ever
encountering Mr. Epstein,” Hillary Clinton said in an opening statement
she shared on social media. The closed-door deposition concluded
Thursday after over six hours of Hillary Clinton giving an answer to
every question.
The depositions in the Clintons' hometown of Chappaqua, a typically
quiet hamlet north of New York City, come after months of tense
back-and-forth between the former high-powered Democratic couple and the
Republican-controlled House Oversight Committee as it investigates
Epstein, who killed himself in a New York jail cell in 2019 while
awaiting trial. It will be the first time that a former president has
been forced to testify before Congress.
Yet the demand for a reckoning over Epstein's abuse of underage girls
has become a near-unstoppable force on Capitol Hill and beyond.
President Donald Trump, a Republican who has expressed regret that the
Clintons are being forced to testify, bowed last year to pressure to
release case files on Epstein. The Clintons, too, agreed to testify
after their offers of sworn statements were rebuffed by the Oversight
panel and its chairman, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., threatened criminal
contempt of Congress charges against them.
“Like every decent person," Hillary Clinton added in her opening
statement, “I have been horrified by what we have learned about their
crimes.”
She has previously said that her husband flew with Epstein for
charitable trips but that she did not recall ever meeting Epstein. She
had also interacted with Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend and
confidant, at conferences hosted by the Clinton Foundation.
Maxwell, a British socialite, also attended the 2010 wedding of their
daughter, Chelsea Clinton.
As she exited the event center where the deposition was held, Hillary
Clinton told reporters that Maxwell had come to the wedding as a guest
of someone else and that she had told the committee she only knew
Maxwell “as an acquaintance.”
Republicans relish chance to question Clintons
Bill Clinton, however, has emerged as a top target for Republicans amid
the political struggle over who receives the most scrutiny for their
ties to Epstein. Several photos of the former president were included in
the first tranche of Epstein files released by the Department of Justice
in January, including a number of him with women whose faces were
redacted. Clinton has not been accused of wrongdoing in his relationship
with Epstein.
Comer has also pointed to Hillary Clinton's work as secretary of state
to address sex trafficking as another reason to insist on her
deposition. Clinton defended her work to address sex trafficking around
the world, saying that it remained important to help the millions of
survivors of sex trafficking.
The committee's investigation has also sought to understand why the
Department of Justice under previous presidential administrations did
not seek further charges against Epstein following a 2008 arrangement in
which he pleaded guilty to state charges in Florida for soliciting
prostitution from an underage girl but avoided federal charges.
Hillary Clinton accused Comer of running a one-sided investigation that
has failed to hold Trump and other Republican officials to account.
“This institutional failure is designed to protect one political party
and one public official,” she said.
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Rep. James Comer, R-KY, walks out of the Chappaqua Performing Arts
Center after a deposition by former Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton who was testifying before U.S. House lawmakers as part of a
congressional investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey
Epstein, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, in Chappaqua, N.Y. (AP Photo/Yuki
Iwamura)
Yet conspiracy theories, especially on the right, have swirled for
years around the Clintons and their connections to Epstein and
Maxwell, who argues she was wrongfully convicted. Republicans have
long wanted to press the Clintons for answers.
Hillary Clinton said that one Republican lawmaker asked her a line
of questions about “vile, bogus conspiracy theories.”
The deposition was also paused after Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo.,
sent a photo of Hillary Clinton in the private proceeding to a
conservative influencer who posted it on social media, violating the
committee's rules for depositions.
Democrats said that the incident underscored how important it was
for there to be a clear public record of the deposition. Rep. Robert
Garcia, the top Democrat on the Oversight panel, said that Hillary
Clinton, after the incident, repeated her longstanding demand that
the deposition be made public, and Democrats called for a video and
transcript of the complete proceedings to be released quickly.
Comer said that he would work quickly to release a video and
transcript of the deposition.
“The purpose of the whole investigation is to try to understand many
things about Epstein,” he told reporters outside the convention
center where the depositions were being held. “How did he accumulate
so much wealth? How was he able to surround himself with some of the
most powerful men in the world?"
Democrats call for Trump to testify
Democrats, now being led by a new generation of politicians, have
prioritized transparency around Epstein over defending the former
leaders of their party. Several Democratic lawmakers joined with
Republicans on the Oversight panel to advance the contempt of
Congress charges against the Clintons last month. Several said they
had no relationship with the Clintons and owed no loyalty to them.
Garcia also called on Trump to testify in the investigation. He
argued that Bill Clinton’s appearance sets a precedent that should
apply to Trump as well.
"Let’s get President Trump in front of our committee to answer the
questions that are being asked across this country from survivors,”
Garcia said.
Comer previously said that the committee can’t depose Trump because
he is a sitting president.
Still, Democrats are also coming off an effort this week to confront
Trump about his administration's handling of the Epstein files by
taking women who survived Epstein's abuse as their guests to Trump's
State of the Union address.
Garcia and others are also challenging the Department of Justice's
assertion that it has met the requirements of a law passed by
Congress last year that mandates the release of many of the case
files on Epstein.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said his caucus
in the coming days would also review unredacted versions of the
Epstein case files at a Department of Justice office. Schumer, who
demanded that the department release all of the files and preserve
all materials, said they will “pull on every thread” until they
“reveal this massive cover-up."
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