• Former President Bill Clinton appears before the House Oversight Committee in a closed-door deposition regarding the Epstein investigation.
  • The Clintons initially resisted subpoenas, leading to a contempt of Congress recommendation before agreeing to testify.
  • Clinton denies knowledge of Epstein's criminal activities and details limited past interactions.

Key Developments

Bill Clinton gave a closed-door deposition to the House Oversight Committee on Thursday, following his wife Hillary Clinton's testimony the previous day. This marks the first time a former president has been compelled to appear before Congress, according to people familiar with the matter. The deposition was filmed and transcribed in Chappaqua, New York, after months of legal resistance from the Clintons.

Efforts to secure their testimony hit a snag earlier this year when the couple initially refused to comply with subpoenas issued in January, arguing they lacked legal merit. That prompted the House Oversight Committee to vote to recommend holding them in contempt of Congress, a move that ultimately led to their agreement to appear. Without this deal, the legal standoff could have escalated into prolonged court battles.

In a sworn declaration submitted prior to the deposition, Bill Clinton stated that Jeffrey Epstein offered his private plane to support Clinton Foundation work between 2002 and 2003. He denied ever visiting Epstein's private island in the Virgin Islands and maintained he had not been in contact with Epstein for more than a decade before Epstein's 2019 arrest. "To be clear, I had no idea of Mr. Epstein's or Ms. Maxwell's criminal activities," Clinton stated in the declaration.

Hillary Clinton testified the day before, denying any knowledge of Epstein or Ghislaine Maxwell's crimes and stating she could not recall ever meeting Epstein. When asked if she was confident her husband had no knowledge of Epstein's crimes, she responded affirmatively, according to sources briefed on the testimony.

Committee Chairman James Comer indicated that Republicans planned to question Bill Clinton about Epstein's visits to the White House during the Clinton administration, emails from Epstein claiming credit for helping establish the Clinton Global Initiative, and Department of Justice photographs showing the former president with unidentified women. Democrats on the committee have called for President Donald Trump to also testify about his connections to Epstein, arguing that the Clintons' appearance sets a new precedent requiring presidents and former presidents to comply with congressional subpoenas. Trump has previously maintained he had a falling out with Epstein years before his arrest.

It's worth noting that neither Bill nor Hillary Clinton has been accused of wrongdoing, and no Epstein survivor or associate has made public allegations against them. Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer stated: "No one is accusing, at this moment, the Clintons of any wrongdoing." Attempts to reach the Clintons for additional comment after the deposition were unsuccessful.

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the location of the deposition; it was held in Chappaqua, New York, not Washington, D.C.