Hours of closed-door deposition footage released by the House Oversight Committee show former President Bill Clinton squirming through questions about Jeffrey Epstein, including the one question that never seems to get a straight answer: Did Epstein kill himself?
When asked directly whether he believed Epstein took his own life, Clinton's attorney jumped in before he could respond, asking whether the questioner was requesting Clinton "speculate on how Mr Epstein died." Clinton eventually offered this:
I think maybe, he finally got caught, and I don't know. I've accepted it in my own mind and I don't know what happened.
That's the former President of the United States, under oath, speaking about a man he flew with, visited, and maintained a relationship with for years. And the best he can manage is a shrug.
The deposition almost didn't happen, The U.S. Sun reported. Bill and Hillary Clinton initially refused to comply with subpoenas from the House Oversight Committee. They only agreed to appear after Republicans threatened to hold them in contempt of Congress. That alone tells you something about how eagerly the Clintons wanted to address these questions publicly.
Once seated, Clinton attempted to minimize every connection to Epstein. He said he first met the financier in 2002, flew on his private jet for humanitarian trips connected to the Clinton Foundation, and claimed they "parted ways the following year." He insisted he severed ties with Epstein years before Epstein's 2008 guilty plea for soliciting prostitution from an underage girl.
Friendly, but not friends. That was the line Clinton tried to draw:
We were friendly, but I didn't know him well enough to say we were friends.
And yet he acknowledged flying on Epstein's plane several times in the early 2000s. He admitted visiting Epstein's New York townhouse at least once. He conceded a closer relationship with Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, citing mutual connections.
For someone who wasn't really friends with Epstein, Clinton sure spent a lot of time in the man's orbit.
Clinton was also pressed on specific incidents. He claimed he was unaware that a young woman who gave him a neck massage on one of Epstein's flights was a victim of sexual abuse. He said he did not know a woman in a photograph, whose face was redacted, and denied engaging in sexual activity with her. He explained the image was taken during a charitable trip to Brunei, where members of the travel party went swimming.
He repeatedly denied ever visiting Epstein's private Caribbean island. He denied discussing "young women or girls" with Epstein. He said he had done "nothing wrong."
And on whether he ever noticed anything suspicious about Epstein's operation:
There's nothing that I saw when I was around him that made me realise he was trafficking women.
Clinton wants the public to believe he spent time on a convicted sex trafficker's private jet, visited his townhouse, knew his inner circle, and noticed absolutely nothing. That requires a level of obliviousness that strains credibility from any adult, let alone a former president known for his political instincts.
Lawmakers also probed Clinton about former President Donald Trump's connection to Epstein. Clinton said he briefly discussed Epstein with Trump at a charity golf tournament more than 20 years ago, and that Trump "had never said anything to me to make me think he was involved in anything improper with regard to Epstein."
Republicans pointed to that testimony as evidence there is no proof of wrongdoing by Trump. Democrats, meanwhile, claimed the probe was being weaponized, with Hillary Clinton calling for the president to testify "directly under oath about the tens of thousands of times he shows up in the Epstein files."
The deflection is transparent. When the testimony from their own side clears Trump, Democrats pivot to process complaints. When the spotlight lands on a Clinton, suddenly the investigation itself becomes the problem.
Epstein was found dead in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide. Maxwell was later convicted on sex trafficking charges. Clinton acknowledged she "has to be punished for her conviction."
Asked whether Epstein was suicidal, Clinton said he didn't know. Asked whether Epstein killed himself, he said he didn't know. Asked what the medical finding was, he said he didn't know.
A lot of not knowing from a man who knew Epstein well enough to board his plane, visit his home, and orbit his world.
The House Oversight Committee did the public a service by releasing this footage. Americans can now watch a former president hedge, deflect, and claim ignorance about one of the most prolific sex traffickers in modern history. Clinton's own words, delivered under oath, paint a portrait not of guilt proven but of a man desperate to explain away proximity to evil as mere coincidence.
Coincidence doesn't fly on private jets.
