Lawmakers finally questioned the Clintons about Epstein. They also asked
about pizzagate and UFOs
[March 03, 2026]
By STEPHEN GROVES
WASHINGTON (AP) — A House committee investigating Jeffrey Epstein
labored for six months to question former President Bill Clinton and
former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, but once they finally had a
chance to sit down with some of the highest-ranked officials to ever be
deposed by Congress, the sessions veered off track with a leaked photo,
talk of the pizzagate conspiracy theory and questions about disclosing
government information on UFOs.
Videos released Monday by the House Oversight Committee of depositions
for both Bill and Hillary Clinton from last week showed how overall the
former Democratic president distanced himself from Epstein, even as he
said it was important for anyone with information about Epstein's abuse
to come forward. Hillary Clinton repeatedly told the committee she never
even recalled meeting Epstein during hours of questioning that at times
became heated.
Lawmakers are trying to meet demands for a reckoning over Epstein, who
killed himself in 2019 in New York while facing charges for sex
trafficking and abusing underage girls. High-status men around the world
have been forced into resignations because of revelations about their
relationships with Epstein, but so far there are few signs in the U.S.
of serious legal consequences coming.
After the depositions last week, Republicans seem to be moving on from
scrutinizing the Clintons for their decades-old connections to Epstein
and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell.
Hillary Clinton's contentious deposition
The closed-door depositions showed how Republican lawmakers at times
seemed not able to resist the spectacle of questioning a couple who for
decades led the Democratic Party.
The deposition of Hillary Clinton on Thursday was hardly underway when
it was put on pause because Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert had sent a
photo of Hillary Clinton at the session to a conservative influencer who
posted it online. It violated the committee's protocol for depositions
and threatened for a moment to derail the session.
“I am done with this if you guys are doing that,” Hillary Clinton said.
“You can hold me in contempt from now until the cows come home.”
The two sides reached an agreement to continue. But as the afternoon
wore on, Hillary Clinton started to lose her patience with Republicans'
repeated questions about whether she had any connections to Epstein. “I
am so tired of answering that question,” she said at one point.
She also sparred with Republican Rep. Nancy Mace when she was asked
about her connection to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Hillary
Clinton had worked with Lutnick in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001
attacks and became visibly perturbed and pounded her palm on the table
as she responded to Mace.
Boebert, R-Colo., also asked Hillary Clinton whether there were emails
in the case files on Epstein that referenced pizzagate, which posited
that Democratic Party insiders harbored child sex slaves in a Washington
pizza parlor.
Hillary Clinton responded by saying, “I can't believe you're even
referencing it” and reminding her that the conspiracy theory resulted in
a man bringing a gun to a Washington restaurant.
However, Republicans did find some agreement with Hillary Clinton when
it came to providing more disclosure on what information the government
has gathered on UFOs.
Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., asked the former secretary of state for her
opinion on releasing more information, and she agreed that any releases
should not include national security information but that “this is an
issue of real importance to so many people.”
Democrats and Republicans question Bill Clinton
On Friday, Bill Clinton faced searching questions both from Republicans
and Democrats about photos of the former president that have been
released as part of the case files on Epstein.
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Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks outside the
Chappaqua Performing Arts Center, after 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)
The former Democratic president said he first remembered meeting
Epstein when he flew aboard the financier's private jet in 2002 for
the Clintons' humanitarian work, and they parted ways the year
after.
Whether the subject was a note Clinton wrote for Epstein’s 50th
birthday or their travel together for the Clinton Foundation, he
described their relationship as little more than “cordial.” Bill
Clinton described an arrangement with Epstein where the financier
provided his private jet for humanitarian trips in exchange for
Clinton discussing politics and economics with him.
Larry Summers, who had worked as treasury secretary in Clinton’s
administration, helped make that connection, Clinton said. But
Clinton said they went separate ways after he sensed that Epstein
was not deeply interested in the humanitarian work.
“We were friendly, but I didn’t know him well enough to say we were
friends,” he said.
Epstein visited the White House numerous times during Clinton’s
presidency, and there are photos of them shaking hands. Clinton told
lawmakers he did not recall those interactions.
In response to a Democratic lawmaker's questions about a photo that
showed him in a pool with a woman whose face was redacted, the
former president said he did not know the woman and did not engage
in sexual activity with her.
He said the photo was from a trip to Brunei for charitable work and
a number of people in their travel party were swimming. He also said
that he was not aware that one young woman who was ostensibly
working as a masseuse and gave him a neck massage on one flight was
in fact a victim of sexual abuse.
“There’s nothing that I saw when I was around him that made me
realize he was trafficking women,” he told the committee.
He said he had once visited Epstein's townhouse in New York City,
but said repeatedly he had never visited Epstein's private island or
other properties.
Asked by Republicans whether they had talked about young women or
girls together, Clinton responded emphatically: “No.”
Clinton acknowledged he maintained a closer relationship with
Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's former girlfriend and confidant. But he
maintained that was largely because of close mutual connections. He
also said “she has to be punished” for her conviction on sex
trafficking charges.
What Bill Clinton said about Trump
One line of questioning stirred up curiosity from lawmakers, and
that was what Clinton had to say about President Donald Trump. He
made clear he believed it was important for anyone, including
presidents, to come forward and testify to their knowledge of
Epstein.
Clinton also shared how he and Trump had briefly discussed Epstein
at a charity golf tournament more than 20 years ago. He said Trump
had never “said anything to me to make me think he was involved in
anything improper with regard to Epstein,” but also remarked that
those two men had a falling-out over a real estate deal.
Republican lawmakers left the deposition pointing to Clinton's words
and arguing that it showed there is no evidence that Trump ever did
anything wrong in his own relationship with Epstein.
Democrats, meanwhile, said Clinton's testimony counters what Trump
has said more recently about why he and Epstein had a falling-out.
Trump has told reporters they had a disagreement because Epstein had
hired people away from Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.
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