Bill Clinton spent six months running from this moment.
When the bipartisan subpoena landed last August, Clinton cited a funeral to dodge October. Then December. Then he blew off January altogether – and the House Oversight Committee voted to hold him in criminal contempt.
Now he's sitting in a closed room in Chappaqua, New York, under oath, and James Comer is getting every question Bill Clinton tried to make disappear.
Bill Clinton Defends Lolita Express Flights and Epstein White House Visits
Clinton opened with a prepared statement, telling the committee he had "no idea" what Epstein was doing.
"I know what I saw, and more importantly, what I didn't see," Clinton said. "I saw nothing and I did nothing wrong."
That answer has to survive James Comer's evidence pile. Flight logs show Clinton boarded Epstein's Boeing 727 – the jet the media dubbed the "Lolita Express" – at least 26 times between 2002 and 2003. Secretary Clinton confirmed during her own deposition that Epstein visited the White House 17 times while Bill Clinton was president.
Clinton's team spent years insisting those were just "four charitable trips" for the Clinton Foundation. Every flight log tells a different story.
Hillary Clinton spent the day before doing her own version of damage control – deferring to her husband no fewer than a dozen times. "You'll have to ask my husband that. I can't answer that," she told committee members repeatedly across six hours of testimony. Questions about the Clinton Global Initiative, the Epstein relationship, Ghislaine Maxwell – all punted to Friday.
Now they're asking.
Clinton Epstein Testimony Relies on "I Don't Recall" Defense
Clinton warned the committee up front that they would "often" hear the words "I don't recall."
"This was all a long time ago," Clinton said. "I am bound by my oath not to speculate."
That's a calculated legal strategy – and Comer's committee is loaded with the documentation to challenge it. The DOJ's Epstein file releases included email correspondence involving Clinton's post-presidential office, photos of Clinton with Epstein archived by Epstein himself, and records showing Ghislaine Maxwell was deeply involved in setting up the Clinton Global Initiative before Epstein's 2008 guilty plea.
Maxwell is currently serving out a federal prison sentence in Texas after her conviction on sex trafficking charges. She attended Chelsea Clinton's wedding in 2010. She appeared at Clinton Global Initiative conferences through at least 2013.
Clinton's answer to all of it: "I saw nothing."
James Comer Has the Epstein Files and the Flight Logs
This is the first time a former president has been compelled to testify before Congress under subpoena in more than 40 years. Comer called it "a historical day."
He also made clear his question list grew longer after Hillary Clinton's testimony. Every time she deferred – on the Clinton Foundation, on the Epstein relationship, on Maxwell – Comer added it to Friday's agenda. "There were at least a dozen times when she said, 'You'll have to ask my husband that. I can't answer that,'" Comer told reporters.
Video and transcripts are set for public release within the week.
Bill Clinton stared down a contempt vote that had Democratic support and only walked into that room when a criminal referral to the Justice Department became the alternative. Comer handed him a subpoena. Hillary handed him the Clinton Foundation questions. The Epstein files handed him 26 flights, 17 White House visits, and Maxwell running his own initiative to explain.
The full video drops soon. Epstein's victims have been waiting 20 years for answers. They're about to see how Bill Clinton performs under oath when the exits are finally closed.
Sources:
- Elizabeth Elkind, "Bill Clinton says he had 'no idea' of Epstein's crimes during closed-door deposition," Fox News, February 27, 2026.
- House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, "Chairman Comer Announces the Clintons Caved, Will Appear for Depositions," oversight.house.gov, February 2026.
- House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, "Oversight Committee Republicans and Democrats Hold Bill and Hillary Clinton in Contempt," oversight.house.gov, January 21, 2026.
- "Flight logs show Bill Clinton flew on sex offender's jet much more than previously known," Fox News, May 13, 2016.
