Topline
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will testify to House lawmakers Thursday about her knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein, after previously fighting her subpoena to testify, marking one of the most high-profile testimonies yet in the House Oversight Committee’s Epstein investigation and coming a day before her husband, former President Bill Clinton, speaks to the committee.
Hillary Clinton moderates a panel at the 62nd Munich Security Conference on February 14 in Munich, Germany.
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Key Facts
The former secretary of state will speak to House lawmakers in closed-door testimony in Chappaqua, New York, where she lives, part of the House Oversight Committee’s broader probe into Epstein and his alleged sexual assault.
The testimony will not be broadcast to the public Thursday—despite the Clintons wanting to testify publicly—but will be videotaped, NBC News notes.
Since the committee has released tapes and transcripts of other similar interviews to the public in the past, it will likely do the same here.
House lawmakers subpoenaed both Clintons to testify in the probe last year, but the interviews are taking place now after the couple previously refused to comply with the subpoenas, but then ultimately switched course and agreed to testify, avoiding a court battle over the issue.
Both have said they do not have any personal knowledge of Epstein’s alleged abuse to share with the committee, and neither have ever been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with the financier.
Hillary Clinton told the BBC last week she met Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell on “a few occasions,” but does not believe she ever met Epstein himself, and was not on trips her husband took with the financier.
Crucial Quote
“We have nothing to hide. We have called for the full release of these files repeatedly. We think sunlight is the best disinfectant,” Hillary Clinton told the BBC last week. The former secretary of state argued her and her husband were being used by Republicans as a “shiny object” to distract from President Donald Trump’s ties to Epstein, claiming Republicans were saying, “We’re going to have the Clintons [testify], even Hillary Clinton, who never met the guy.”
What To Watch For
It’s unclear how long Hillary Clinton’s testimony will last Thursday, and when any transcript or video will be released. Lawmakers will likely address the press about the testimony and what Clinton said, as they did when billionaire Les Wexner testified before the committee last week. After the former secretary of state testifies Thursday, Bill Clinton will appear Friday for a similar closed-door testimony in Chappaqua. That testimony will mark the first time a former president has testified to Congress since 1983, according to the BBC.
How Are The Clintons Connected To Epstein?
Bill Clinton has been confirmed to have associated with Epstein in the 2000s, taking multiple trips on Epstein’s private jet, which the former president has said were for work with the Clinton Foundation. He has never been accused of any wrongdoing and has denied ever visiting Epstein’s private island, and his representatives have said he cut off contact with Epstein in 2005, before the financier pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution. In an interview with the DOJ last year, Maxwell said Clinton “was my friend, not Epstein’s friend,” and while she “got along terribly well” with the former president, “I never saw that warmth with Mr. Epstein.” She also said Clinton “never, absolutely never went” to the island. Hillary Clinton was not present on the flights Clinton took with Epstein and said in a sworn declaration she “do[es] not recall encountering Mr. Epstein, or any specific interactions with him,” as quoted by CBS News. The former secretary of state said she knew Maxwell through the socialite’s “personal relationship with a mutual friend,” and does “not recall the specifics of my interactions with her.” While Clinton said he cut off Epstein in 2005, Maxwell appeared to remain in the Clintons’ orbit, attending Chelsea Clinton’s 2010 wedding and being honored at a 2013 event for the Clinton Global Initiative. That invitation was likely recommended by one of the Clintons personally, CNN reported, as it came after the foundation’s staff had recommended banning Maxwell from the organization’s events over her ties to Epstein. The Clintons have long denied any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein or knowledge of his crimes, and have accused Republicans of using them to distract from others who are implicated in the Epstein files. “There are two types of people here. The first group knew nothing and cut Epstein off before his crimes came to light. The second group continued relationships with him after,” Clinton spokesperson Angel Urena said in December after new photos of the former president surfaced in the Epstein files. “We’re in the first.”
Key Background
The Clintons are the highest profile figures yet to testify as part of the House Oversight Committee’s probe into Epstein, after lawmakers interviewed Wexner last week and have also solicited testimony from people like former U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta, who negotiated the non-prosecution agreement that got Epstein out of federal charges in 2008. The former first couple had previously been summoned to appear before the committee in October, with their testimony dates then getting pushed back to December, and again to January. The Clintons did not appear for any of those interviews, and House Oversight members voted to hold them in contempt for defying their subpoenas. After initially suggesting they intended to fight any contempt charges in court, the former president and secretary ultimately switched course on Feb. 2, before the contempt finding went to a vote in the full House, saying they would appear before the committee after all.
Further Reading
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2026/02/26/hillary-clinton-will-testify-about-epstein-today/
