The Most Controversial Details From Bill Clinton's Epstein Deposition — From His First Meeting With Jeffrey Epstein to the Infamous Hot Tub Photo

Bill Clinton unequivocally maintained his innocence during his February 27 deposition before Congress regarding his past association with Jeffrey Epstein.

The former POTUS, who became the first former or sitting president to testify before Congress in more than 40 years, was hammered with questions by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee about what he recalled regarding the late convicted s-- trafficker and his close confidant Ghislaine Maxwell.

In his opening statement shared on X, obtained by OK!, Clinton vehemently denied any awareness of the "crimes Epstein was committing," saying, "No matter how many photos you show me, I have two things that at the end of the day matter more than your interpretation of those 20-year-old photos."

"I know what I saw, and more importantly, what I didn't see. I know what I did, and more importantly, what I didn't do," he asserted. "I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong."

In his prepared opening statement, the 79-year-old added, "As someone who grew up in a home with domestic abuse, not only would I not have flown on his plane if I had any inkling of what he was doing – I would have turned him in myself and led the call for justice for his crimes, not sweetheart deals."

"We are only here because he hid it from everyone so well for so long," he continued. "And by the time it came to light with his 2008 guilty plea, I had long stopped associating with him."

Clinton said he would "not falsely state" that he was "looking forward" to the questions since he was under oath.

"But I am ready to answer them to the best of my abilities, consistent with the facts as I know them: the legitimate, the logical, and even the outlandish," he pointed out.

At the outset of his testimony, he defended his wife, Hillary Clinton, who was also summoned to testify before Congress on February 26 in compliance with congressional subpoenas.

Testifying before members of Congress, Bill disclosed he became acquainted with Jeffrey after being connected by his former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers.

"He was calling because a man named Jeffrey Epstein, who had made a substantial commitment of several million dollars ... to brain research, and he was an information hungry person, and he wanted to spend some time talking to me about economics and politics," he said, referring to the research at Harvard University.

He added, "He said he's got this massive airplane, and he said he would take you, your staff, your Secret Service detail, anybody else you wanted to bring on the trips that he knew I was planning to set up a global network to provide lifesaving AIDS medicine to as many people as possible, as quickly as possible."

When asked whether he observed anything that caused him to question Jeffrey's behavior, Bill said he never saw the late child s-- trafficker "do anything [he] was suspicious" but noted he found him "odd."

"I felt friendly toward him, but he was, as I said in my book, odd. There was always something a little holding back. And he, and I could tell," he responded.

The first meeting allegedly happened when he boarded his plane around 2002, though he acknowledged a photograph showing him and Jeffrey in the White House in 1993. The same snap featured Hillary.

Per Bill, the encounter in the early 1990s was a routine meet-and-greet with the donors.

While denying wrongdoing related to Jeffrey, Bill also refuted ever having visited Jeffrey's private island — the site where a number of the s-- offender's alleged crimes reportedly took place.

"While Mr. Epstein may very well have attended any of the many hundreds of White House events or receptions during my eight years in office and been photographed with me as were tens of thousands of individuals, I do not recall encountering Mr. Epstein, or any specific interactions with him, while in office," he told members of Congress.

One of the Epstein files released by the U.S. Department of Justice in December 2025 showed Bill in a hot tub with an unnamed woman.

The 42nd U.S. president, in his deposition, said he did not know who the woman was. Asked if he had s-- with the unidentified individual, he said "no."

"I've never seen it in person," Bill replied when he was questioned about a painting of the former head of state in a blue dress that was found in one of Jeffrey's properties.

He said, "And if I had known Jeffrey Epstein had this painting [it] would have saved me this whole day."

Bill was queried about any relationship he had with Jeffrey's sexual abuse survivor Chauntae Davies, referencing a photograph of the politician receiving a shoulder massage from the flight attendant at an airport during a 2002 trip.

"There was one time when I was sitting up and I got a back row by neck work. And I think Chauntae did it but I'm not sure," he said.

When a member underscored Jeffrey's alleged recruitment of victims as masseuses, Bill stated, "I wish Chauntae had told me I liked her. But I didn't think it was anything unusual. I can't tell you how many airplanes I've been on where rich people asked me to go and they had someone offering massage."

The Epstein files included messages between Ghislaine and Bill's top aide Doug Band between 2002 and 2004, which hinted at the pair's close association.

A member asked if Bill had a physical relationship with Jeffrey's co-conspirator, to which he replied, "I did not."

During a heated exchange with Representative Nancy Mace, Bill was confronted with a 2016 deposition in which a witness testified that Jeffrey once said the former Arkansas governor "likes them young."

"Why would Epstein say that?" Nancy asked. "Clinton likes them young, referring to girls."

"First of all, that's not true," Bill said, to which Nancy responded, "What's not true?"

He answered, "That I have any interest in underage [girls]."

"I didn't say underage. I said, I said young," she clarified, prompting Bill to quickly say, "But it's still not true."

"Is an intern young?" the representative appeared to take a swipe at his relationship with Monica Lewinsky.

"Yes," he said.