Fformer American president Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary, who was the secretary of state, spent more than nine hours testifying last week about the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and the public can now watch their deposition in the Republican-led congressional committee.
Presentations happened in their life Chappaqua, N.Y., is his home town and includes questions about Epstein — who died in 2019 in a New York City jail shortly after being indicted — and Ghislaine Maxwell, a friend of his who is serving a long prison sentence for sex trafficking.
Here’s a look at what we learned, focusing on the testimony of the 42nd president. Hillary Clinton has testified that she never met Epstein, and there has never been a credible account disputing that claim.
No crime information, no police interviews
In a public statement, Bill Clinton said he had no knowledge of the crimes Epstein committed when the two men were acquainted and that if he had known, “I would have answered him myself.” He added at various points on Friday that he never saw illegal behavior on Epstein’s plane or any of the girls he thought had children.
Overall, Clinton’s deposition did not deviate much from what she wrote about Epstein’s relationship in the 2024 book or Maxwell’s conversations with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche last summer in jail.
“I didn’t see President Clinton being interested in Epstein,” Maxwell said. “[Epstein] he was a rich man with a plane.”
WATCH | The answer is from Bill Clinton:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgJrYKal6T0
Clinton, too, has set limits on the relationship as trade. He said that contact with Larry Summers, the former secretary of the treasury, advised him that Epstein was willing to lend his plane to be used as Clinton wanted to establish his new base since 2001.
In exchange, Epstein wanted some time to discuss the issues, Clinton said. Those discussions, the former president recalled, included topics such as derivatives markets and financial regulations and the prospect of prosperity in Africa.
“He asked about the economy and politics, as he said, he never asked me anything bad,” said Clinton, emphasizing that federal employees and the US Secret Service were with him when he boarded the plane.
Epstein was indicted in Florida in 2007 on charges that led to his conviction the following year on federal charges of soliciting prostitution of a person under the age of 18. Clinton said that when she looked at their contacts, she was surprised that she was not contacted then, or later, by authorities.
“I don’t believe any law enforcement has ever asked me, and I don’t know enough to volunteer anything,” Clinton told the committee.
About the end of the relationship, which she said was in 2003, Clinton said Epstein didn’t seem overly interested in her global health plans and that others who knew better offered to help take her places.
“I thought I did what I promised and he did what he promised to do,” said Clinton.
Regarding widespread speculation that Epstein may have been a foreign service intelligence agent, Clinton said she would be surprised if that was the case.
Context of extracted images
Both Clintons said the relationship with Maxwell spanned several years, as he did in his prison interview. Maxwell said he had been in a relationship for about seven years with Clinton friend and technology manager Ted Waitt, who the former president said was also interested in the early efforts of the Clinton Global Initiative.
In a photo released as part of millions of documents released by the Epstein Files Transparency Act through late 2025, Clinton is shown in a pool with Maxwell and at least one other unidentified person.
Clinton said on a long flight to Asia, there was a stopover in Brunei. The head of state, who was known by Clinton when he was president of the United States, encouraged the traveling party to relax after the flight in the hotel pool.
“I swam. I stayed in the hot tub for five minutes or so. I woke up and went to sleep,” he said.
Clinton added that a member of the Secret Service was near the pool, and her lawyers pointed to a separate photo that showed several people swimming.
In another newly released photo, Clinton can be seen being anointed by a young woman in an airport lounge. By all accounts, the woman is Chauntae Davies, a former flight attendant who years later said she was molested by Epstein.
Asked by Democratic Rep. Melanie Stansbury if she now regrets the photo, Clinton initially tried to walk away from the image of what she considered an innocent massage, featuring two fully clothed people.
“You want to know if I’m upset about it. Yes,” he said to one of his lawyers. “I wish Chauntae had told me,” she added. “I loved him.”
‘I don’t remember’
Clinton in public life has been accused of being evasive, but she predicted in her opening statement that “you’ll often hear me say I don’t remember.”
That happened, and one such question involved whether Epstein was shown a bed on the plane.
While Clinton appeared focused and knowledgeable throughout Friday’s sessions, there were a few moments where he appeared to be a nearly 80-year-old man, with a slurred voice and shaky hands.
His lawyers often rephrased the questions or explained their reasons to him. Trying to remember his frequent travels, he wondered aloud if the devastating Asian tsunami had occurred in 2001 or 2002, clearly thinking of the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami that occurred in late December 2004.
The victims’ allegations are denied
Clinton disputed the allegations made by the late Virginia Giuffre and Maria Farmer, who said they were abused by Epstein.
Farmer told police he had information that Clinton was at Epstein’s ranch in New Mexico, while Giuffre said he visited Epstein’s property in the Caribbean. Clinton insisted that she had never visited the St. Louis area. Thomas, but gave “I don’t remember doing that” about any farm visits.
Those inclined to doubt Clinton might point to the fact that in early 1998, she denied having a sexual relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky when she was deposed to a lawsuit filed by Paula Jones – which could be among the statements that led to her impeachment. Clinton has faced numerous allegations of misogyny or sexual harassment, particularly in the 1980s and 1990s, with Jones claiming he exposed himself to her in a hotel while he was governor of Arkansas.
As for Giuffre, while helping to expose Epstein’s crimes and former prince Andrew’s relationship with Epstein, he once filed a false sexual assault case that he had to publicly retract involving attorney general Alan Dershowitz.
The Trump-Epstein story remains a mystery
A Washington Post report traces the origins of the Trump-Epstein split to late 2004 and a piece of Florida land for sale.
Clinton offered a similar impression when she said she spoke briefly with US President Donald Trump about Epstein at a charity golf tournament hosted by former New York Yankees manager Joe Torre.
“He said they both wanted the same place. He didn’t say what it was, and that’s all I remember,” Clinton said, adding that the conversation did not include any discussion of sex or women. But the former president put the conversation with the future president in 2002 or 2003, long before the real estate auction.
Trump offered a different explanation last year, saying Epstein “stole” female workers at his Florida estate and that he had not heeded warnings to stop doing so.
“People have been kicked out of the spa – run by him – in other words, they’re gone,” Trump said. “And not long after that, [Epstein] he did it again. And I said, ‘Get out of here.’
Continuing with mud, 2020 book The Grifter’s Club: Trump, Mar-a-Lago, and the Sale of the Presidency allegations that Epstein was banned from visiting Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in 2007 for allegedly having an inappropriate exchange with a girl.
Video of the closed-door hearing has been released
The Clintons have been negotiating with Republican committee chairman James Comer for weeks, seeking public hearings so their testimony is not misconstrued.
While that desire was understandable, it is also true that Hillary Clinton has seen firsthand how a public congressional hearing can turn into a spectacle – with positive comments made by several legislators being filmed live by news networks as she sat for almost 12 hours in the 2015 congressional session of the attack on Benghazi, Libya.
WATCH | Hillary Clinton’s inauguration gets off to a rocky start after photo leaks:
But with few exceptions – for example, he exploded last week after his photo was leaked and he was surprised that the Republican asked about the Pizzagate conspiracy theory that almost killed him – the deposition proceeded in a professional and direct manner, without shouting and lawyers sometimes interrupting to clarify the questions.
The difference was also seen recently in how much of the interview time with former special counsel Jack Smith took place, compared to a public hearing.
With a video of their inauguration released within two business days, the Clintons can now be seen and heard outside of Capitol Hill histrionics.
