Bill Clinton Testifies Before Congress: First Former President Deposed in Over 40 Years

On Friday, February 27, 2026, former President Bill Clinton sat for a closed-door deposition before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee at his home in Chappaqua, New York. The session, filmed and transcribed under oath, made Clinton the first former or sitting president to testify before a congressional panel since Gerald Ford appeared before a Senate subcommittee in 1983 to discuss bicentennial planning for the Constitution.

The questioning centered on Clinton's documented relationship with convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, a relationship that the Epstein case files trace through 38 recorded flights, 3,514 linked documents, and correspondence between Epstein's office and the Clinton Foundation.

Clinton has not been accused of criminal wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.

Six Months of Legal Confrontation

Getting Clinton to this point required half a year of subpoenas, refusals, and the threat of criminal prosecution.

On July 23, 2025, members of both parties on the House Oversight Committee's Federal Law Enforcement Subcommittee voted unanimously to authorize subpoenas for ten individuals connected to the Epstein case. Chairman James Comer issued the formal subpoenas on August 5, 2025, scheduling Clinton's deposition for October 14.

Clinton did not appear. The deposition was rescheduled for December, then again for January 13, 2026. At 11:02 PM the night before that third scheduled date, Clinton's attorney David E. Kendall of Jenner & Block sent a letter arguing the subpoena was "legally invalid" and asserting that Clinton possessed "no information pertinent to the investigation." Clinton did not appear the next morning.

On January 21, 2026, the Oversight Committee voted to recommend that the full House find William Jefferson Clinton in criminal contempt of Congress. Nine Democrats joined the Republican majority in the vote. A contempt conviction carries up to one year in federal prison and a maximum fine of $100,000.

Only after it became clear that the House would vote on the contempt resolution did both Bill and Hillary Clinton agree to appear for separate depositions. Clinton had pushed publicly for the sessions to be held in open hearings. "This arrangement serves only partisan interests," he wrote in a statement. Comer insisted on closed-door depositions with video to be released later.

What Clinton Told the Committee

In a sworn declaration submitted before his appearance, Clinton stated that Epstein offered his private Boeing 727 to the former president, his staff, and his Secret Service detail between 2002 and 2003 to support Clinton Foundation philanthropic work.

"I had no idea of Mr. Epstein's or Ms. Maxwell's criminal activities," Clinton wrote. "I do not recall encountering Mr. Epstein, or any specific interactions with him, while in office."

Clinton stated he had not been in contact with Epstein for more than a decade before Epstein's July 2019 arrest. He denied ever visiting Epstein's private island, Little St. James, in the U.S. Virgin Islands. He also denied visiting Epstein's New Mexico ranch near Santa Fe, his Palm Beach estate, or his Manhattan townhouse, though he acknowledged a single meeting at Epstein's New York apartment in 2002 and the flights on Epstein's aircraft.

Chairman Comer said after Hillary Clinton's six-hour session on February 26 that he expected the former president's deposition to take "even longer." During her testimony, Hillary Clinton repeatedly told committee members, "I don't know. You'll have to ask my husband," more than a dozen times, according to Comer.

38 Flights on Epstein's Aircraft

The flight logs tell a more detailed story than Clinton's public statements have acknowledged. Pilot David Rodgers, who flew Epstein's aircraft for nearly 30 years, kept a personal flight log documenting over 1,000 flights. His sworn deposition in the Giuffre v. Maxwell case confirmed the passengers and routes.

The Epstein Exposed database contains 38 individual flight records listing Bill Clinton as a passenger on Epstein's Boeing 727 (tail number N908JE) and Gulfstream II (N212JE) between June 2001 and May 2004. These flights break into distinct patterns:

Domestic shuttle flights (2001-2004): Clinton flew between Teterboro Airport in New Jersey and Palm Beach International in Florida on at least 14 separate occasions with Epstein, Maxwell, and his aide Doug Band. Several of these trips also included Epstein's personal assistant Sarah Kellen, who was later identified as one of four co-conspirators named in Epstein's 2008 non-prosecution agreement.

U.S. Virgin Islands trips (2001-2002): Clinton flew to and from Cyril E. King Airport in the USVI on four recorded flights in July 2001 and July 2002. The flight logs note "Secret Service detail noted" on the July 13, 2001 leg. Clinton has denied visiting Epstein's island, Little St. James, but the USVI flights place him in the territory where the island is located.

The Africa trip (September-October 2002): The most extensively documented sequence is a multi-country trip across Africa that spanned 10 separate flight legs from September 21 to October 5, 2002. The Boeing 727 departed JFK International for the Azores, then continued to Accra (Ghana), Abuja (Nigeria), Kigali (Rwanda), Maputo (Mozambique), Cape Town, and Johannesburg before returning through London Luton to JFK.

The manifest for the outbound leg on September 21 lists 17 passengers: Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, Clinton, Doug Band, Kevin Spacey, Chris Tucker, Chauntae Davies, Casey Wasserman, Laura Wasserman, Ron Burkle, Andrea Mitrovich, Sean Koo, Rodney Slater, Gayle Smith, Eric Nonacs, Jim Kennedy, and Greg Bledsoe. Ira Magaziner, a former Clinton White House senior adviser, joined the group in Rwanda.

Clinton Foundation representatives have described this as an HIV/AIDS awareness and economic development mission. Epstein's own attorneys later characterized it differently. In a July 6, 2007 letter written during Epstein's plea negotiations by attorneys Alan Dershowitz and Gerald Lefcourt, the lawyers stated that Epstein "hosted" the Africa trip and credited him as "part of the original group that conceived the Clinton Global Initiative." The letter was part of an effort to soften Epstein's sentencing by emphasizing his connections to powerful people.

Clinton Foundation officials have disputed the claim. Epstein is not listed in any official Clinton Global Initiative filings as a founder or director. Clinton has credited his longtime aide Doug Band with conceiving the initiative.

New Mexico flight (November 2003): A single flight on November 20, 2003, shows Clinton departing from Santa Fe Municipal Airport in New Mexico aboard the Boeing 727 with Epstein, Maxwell, and Kellen. Epstein's Zorro Ranch property sits outside Santa Fe. Clinton has publicly denied visiting the ranch.

Pilot Larry Visoski, who testified at the Maxwell trial in November 2021, identified Clinton among the passengers he flew during his 30 years of service on Epstein's aircraft. Visoski described Maxwell as frequently present and "number two" in Epstein's operation.

The Chauntae Davies Photograph

During the Africa trip, photographs emerged showing Clinton receiving a neck massage from Chauntae Davies at a small airport in the Azores during a fuel stop. Davies, who worked as a masseuse on Epstein's aircraft, later accused Epstein of raping her.

Davies has stated publicly that "President Clinton was a perfect gentleman during the trip and I saw absolutely no foul play involving him." Maxwell reportedly suggested the massage after Clinton complained of a stiff neck from sleeping on the plane.

What the Documents Show

Clinton's name appears in 3,514 documents across the Epstein case files, making him one of the most frequently referenced public figures in the archive.

The correspondence between Epstein and the Clinton Foundation, released through the House Oversight Committee, includes scheduling communications related to charitable events and travel arrangements. Clinton's representatives handled logistics, and the documents show a working relationship between Epstein's office and the Foundation during the 2002-2003 period.

Several House Oversight documents contain allegations from Virginia Giuffre (then Virginia Roberts) listing Clinton among public figures she claimed were connected to Epstein's trafficking operation. An affidavit analysis examined by a former FBI director through FOIA records assessed the credibility of Roberts' claims about being on Little St. James Island with Clinton.

Justice Department-released emails and Ghislaine Maxwell's own interview both corroborated Clinton's claim that he never visited the island. No criminal allegations against Clinton have been substantiated in any court proceeding.

DOJ document DOJ-OGR-00032050, a magazine profile of Epstein, describes his connections to Clinton, Spacey, and other high-profile figures. DOJ-OGR-00032112 discusses Epstein's association with Clinton in the context of the sex scandal investigation. Multiple DOJ records reference Clinton in news coverage collected during the federal investigation of Epstein.

The Five Topic Areas

According to CNN, the Clintons' legal team and the committee negotiated five topic areas for the depositions:

1. Federal mismanagement of investigations into Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell
2. The circumstances of Epstein's death while in federal custody
3. The operations of the sex-trafficking ring
4. Influence-peddling that may have protected illegal activities
5. Ethics violations by elected officials and government employees

Others Facing Subpoenas

The House Oversight Committee issued subpoenas to a broad range of officials connected to the Epstein case, with depositions scheduled through spring 2026:

• Former Attorneys General: William Barr (August 18), Alberto Gonzales (August 26), Jeff Sessions (August 28), Loretta Lynch (September 9), Eric Holder (September 30), Merrick Garland (October 2)
• Former FBI Directors: Robert Mueller (September 2), James Comey (October 7)
• Epstein estate executors: Richard Kahn (March 11) and Darren Indyke (March 19)

A First Couple Under Oath

The back-to-back depositions of Hillary Clinton on February 26 and Bill Clinton on February 27 mark the first time a former first couple has appeared before a congressional panel under subpoena. Hillary Clinton's session, which lasted approximately six hours, is covered in a separate report.

During her testimony, Hillary Clinton stated: "I had no idea about their criminal activities. I do not recall ever encountering Mr. Epstein. I never flew on his plane or visited his island home or offices." She called the proceeding "repetitive" and "political theater," and challenged Republicans to subpoena Donald Trump as well.

The depositions are expected to be recorded on video, with transcripts released in the days following. Committee members indicated that additional witnesses may be called depending on the testimony provided.

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Sources: NBC News, CBS News, Al Jazeera, House Oversight Committee, Fox News, CNN