Bill and Hillary Clinton set for Epstein deposition: What to know 

Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are set to appear before the House Oversight Committee as part of its investigation into the network of influence and crime run by the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Both depositions are planned to take place in Chappaqua, New York, where the Clintons reside.

Here is what to know.

What is a Congressional deposition, and how does it work?

It’s a sworn, out-of-court testimony given as part of a congressional investigation.

The witnesses – in this case, the Clintons – will testify under oath, behind closed doors, and respond to questions from committee lawyers and investigators.

The session will be recorded and transcribed, and knowingly providing false statements can result in legal consequences.

In the Clintons’ case, they initially resisted testifying, arguing that the inquiry was politically motivated.

They ultimately agreed to appear after the House signalled it was prepared to move towards a bipartisan vote to hold them in contempt, a step that could have led to criminal charges.

“No one is accusing the Clintons of any wrongdoing,” James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said. “We just have a lot of questions.”

When are the depositions taking place, and how did we end up here?

The depositions will take place near the Clintons’ house in Chappaqua, rather than on Capitol Hill.

Hillary is scheduled to testify on Thursday, February 26, followed by Bill Clinton on Friday, February 27.

Both depositions will be held behind closed doors, transcribed and filmed.

Congressional depositions are typically scheduled during normal business hours – often starting between 9-10am local time (14:00-15:00 GMT) – but the committee has not publicly confirmed times. Earlier, they had been ordered to appear at 10am (15:00 GMT) for previous iterations of the subpoena.

The agreement to testify follows months of tense exchanges between the Clintons and Representative James Comer, the Republican chair of the House Oversight Committee.

Former President Bill Clinton’s deposition was first requested for October 2025 and later rescheduled for December. He declined to appear, citing a funeral. A follow-up subpoena set a new date of January 13, 2026, but he did not attend.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s deposition was initially scheduled for October 9, 2025, and later moved to December 18. A subsequent subpoena set January 14, 2026, as the new date, and she also did not appear.

The Clintons have argued that the subpoenas were legally invalid and accused Comer of targeting them as part of what they described as a broader campaign of political retribution aligned with former President Donald Trump.

But earlier this month, the Clintons not only agreed to the depositions but argued that they should be held publicly. This, they argued, would both demonstrate to viewers across the United States that they had nothing to hide, and minimise the politicisation of their testimonies by House Republicans.

The depositions come nearly three decades after then-President Bill Clinton sat for a six-hour videotaped deposition in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case, where she alleged Clinton made unwanted sexual advances towards her in 1991 when he was governor.

During that sworn testimony in 1998, Clinton was questioned not only about Jones’s allegations but also about his relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

He denied having a sexual relationship with Lewinsky, a statement that later led to accusations of perjury and ultimately to his impeachment by the House of Representatives.

What is the House Oversight Committee investigating?

In this case, the House Oversight Committee is examining matters related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his network of associates.

Epstein was an American financier and convicted sex offender who used his vast wealth and high-profile social connections to orchestrate a decade-long sex trafficking ring involving dozens of underage girls.

In 2019, federal prosecutors charged Epstein with sex trafficking minors, alleging he had operated a scheme in which underage girls were recruited and abused at his properties. He died in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial; authorities ruled his death a suicide.

There is no evidence of wrongdoing by either Bill Clinton or Hillary Clinton in connection with Epstein. However, scrutiny intensified after Bill Clinton was mentioned in a major batch of unsealed Epstein-related court documents released in early 2024.

Public attention was renewed again in late 2025 and early 2026, when additional records were made public under federal transparency measures, prompting new political pressure and helping set the stage for the current congressional inquiry.

The House Oversight Committee says it’s conducting a multifaceted investigation primarily centred around the activities of Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

Specifically, the Committee is investigating the following areas:

• The alleged mismanagement of the federal government’s investigation into Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, a British socialite and longtime associate of Epstein, who is currently in jail facing trial.

• The circumstances and subsequent investigations of Epstein’s death while in federal custody.
• The operation of sex-trafficking rings, with a focus on discovering ways for the federal government to effectively combat them.
• The ways in which Epstein and Maxwell sought to curry favour and exercise influence to protect their illegal activities from scrutiny.
• Potential violations of ethics rules related to current and former elected officials.

Committee leaders say the information gathered could inform potential legislative reforms, including stricter anti–sex trafficking measures, tougher ethical standards for public officials and changes to how non-prosecution or plea agreements are used in sex-crime cases.

What was Bill Clinton’s known connection to Jeffrey Epstein?

Bill Clinton has acknowledged that he knew Epstein in the early 2000s.

Flight logs and court documents show that Clinton flew on Epstein’s private plane multiple times.

A CNN analysis found that he appeared on the flight logs at least 16 times between 2002 and 2003.

The former president has said the trips were tied to work for the Clinton Foundation.

He said he met Epstein through mutual acquaintances and maintained that their interactions were limited to those trips and related meetings.

In a 2019 statement following Epstein’s arrest, Clinton said he was unaware of Epstein’s criminal conduct at the time and had not spoken to him for years before his arrest.

Court documents unsealed in 2024 referenced Clinton but did not allege criminal wrongdoing. Additional records released later included photographs showing Clinton with Epstein and Maxwell, also showing a swimming pool in one of Epstein’s residences.

There is no public evidence that Hillary Clinton had a direct relationship with Epstein or was involved in his activities.

According to a report by USA Today, her name appears more than 700 times in the Epstein files, with the majority being news articles about her 2016 presidential campaign that were shared with Epstein.

She has insisted that she never met Epstein.

She has also been questioned about her connection with Maxwell, primarily in the context of large events like the Clinton Global Initiative.

Clinton said in an interview with the BBC on February 17 that she met Maxwell “on a few occasions”.

Maxwell was reported to have also attended Chelsea Clinton’s wedding in 2010.