OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
1:00 PM – Friday, February 27, 2026
Former Democrat President Bill Clinton arrived Chappaqua, New York, for a House Oversight Committee deposition as part of an investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking operation, one day after his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, faced the committee.
The impeached former president released a public opening statement on X prior to the probe, similar to what his wife did on Thursday before she engaged with the committee under oath for about six hours in a closed-door deposition.
On Friday, Clinton asserted that he loves his country and that “no person is above the law, even Presidents—especially Presidents.” He also promised to do his part bring the United States “away from the brink and back to being a country where we can disagree with one another civilly.” This, he said, is the first reason he was brought in for questioning.
“The second reason I’m here is that the girls and women whose lives Jeffrey Epstein destroyed deserve not only justice, but healing,” Clinton stated.
He attempted to distance himself from both Epstein and his disturbing criminal activity, aided by his partner, Ghislaine Maxwell, who remains imprisoned at the Federal Prison Camp (FPC) in Texas.
“Though my brief acquaintance with Epstein ended years before his crimes came to light, and though I never witnessed during our limited interactions any indication of what was truly going on, I am here to offer what little I know so that it might prevent anything like this from ever happening again,” Clinton stated.
The former president provided a brief overview of what he intended to testify to during the deposition, offering an early glimpse of his remarks before any transcripts or recordings are made public.
First, he emphasized how long ago he was seen with Epstein, further distancing himself from the disgraced financer.
“I had no idea of the crimes Epstein was committing,” he insisted.
Clinton stated that “no matter how many photos” come out of him fraternizing with the deceased criminal, he has two things that “matter more than your interpretation of those 20-year-old photos.”
The first important thing, Clinton said, is that he knows what he saw and didn’t see. The second was that he knows what he did and didn’t do.
“I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong,” Clinton said.
Continuing to defend himself, Clinton explained that he wouldn’t have flown on Epstein’s plane if he had “any inkling of what he was doing.”
“I would have turned him in myself and led the call for justice for his crimes,” Clinton asserted. “But even with 20/20 hindsight, I saw nothing that ever gave me pause. We are only here because he hid it from everyone so well for so long.”
He also warned that his answers during the deposition “might be unsatisfying” and that he plans to say, “I don’t recall” often.
“I’m not going to say something I’m not sure of. This was a long time ago,” he said. “And I am bound by my oath not to speculate, or to guess.”
Critics quickly pointed out that being under oath has not stopped Clinton before, as the House impeached him in 1998 on perjury and obstruction of justice charges due to his attempt to cover an affair with then-White House Staffer Monica Lewinsky.
He also briefly condemned the committee’s decision to subpoena the former secretary on Thursday, labeling it as “simply not right.”
“I have to get personal. You made Hillary come in. She had nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein,” he contended. “Nothing. She has no memory of even meeting him. She neither traveled with him nor visited any of his properties.”
This statement mirrors comments from the former first lady a day earlier, despite her admission that she knew Maxwell.
“I never met Epstein, never had connection or communication,” she said on Thursday. “I knew Maxwell casually as an acquaintance.”
Critics also noted that the former secretary appeared in documents released by the Department of Justice (DOJ) as part of the Epstein records. Among them was an email sent to Epstein from a redacted sender during the 2015 midterm election cycle leading up to the 2016 presidential race, in which she ultimately lost to Donald Trump.
In the email, the individual told Epstein, “I know you are close with Hillary, but if she gets the nomination and you vote for her, I’ll f***in kill you.”
The Clintons initially pushed backed on the subpoenas, accusing the GOP-led committee of performing political theater.
Clinton’s testimony marks the first time in 40 years that a president has faced questions from Congress, with the last one being President Gerald R. Ford in 1983. Additionally, this is the first time in U.S. history that a former president has been subpoenaed to testify before Congress.
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