Clintons Testify Before House Oversight Committee in Epstein Probe
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton gave closed-door depositions before the House Oversight Committee in Chappaqua, New York, as part of the congressional investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. Hillary Clinton denied any knowledge of Epstein's crimes and called for President Trump to be questioned under oath, while Republicans expressed dissatisfaction with her answers. The depositions, which came after months of legal wrangling and threats of contempt charges, drew sharp reactions from Russian officials who publicly challenged Clinton's denials. Bill Clinton's deposition followed the next day, marking the first time a former US president appeared before a congressional committee under subpoena.
This story splits into two parallel realities: US outlets covered the Clinton depositions as politically charged proceedings undermined by procedural chaos — including questions about UFOs and Pizzagate — while Russian state media, in an entirely separate information stream invisible to English-language audiences, deployed officials like Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zakharova to declare Clinton's testimony 'lies and deceit,' citing Epstein documents about secret meetings. Notably, Fox News consistently omitted Trump's own documented Epstein connections across multiple articles, even as the Wall Street Journal — with reporters at the same venue — devoted significant space to the parallel Trump ties that Democrats want investigated equally. Kommersant's Washington correspondent offered the most distinctive analytical lens, reporting that nearly half of 6 million Epstein file pages remain unreleased and framing the depositions as a narrative battle Democrats are winning ahead of midterm elections. The biggest open question cuts across all coverage: Bill Clinton's deposition — where he was expected to answer the dozen-plus questions his wife deferred — has not yet been reported on by any outlet.
Developments
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testified for over six hours before the House Oversight Committee in Chappaqua, New York, denying any knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein's criminal activities and stating she did not recall ever meeting him. In her opening statement, she accused Republicans of using her testimony to distract from President Trump's own ties to Epstein and called on the committee to question Trump under oath. The session was briefly disrupted when Rep. Lauren Boebert leaked a photograph from the closed proceedings to a right-wing blogger. Committee Chairman James Comer said Clinton answered most questions but deferred to her husband more than a dozen times, while Democrats criticized the proceedings as an 'unserious clown show.'
Russian officials publicly challenged Hillary Clinton's testimony denying knowledge of Epstein. RDIF head Kirill Dmitriev posted what he called the 'letter of the day' from Epstein's files, in which Epstein discusses arranging a secret meeting with Hillary Clinton for the Rothschilds, writing that 'meetings with Hillary are not easy to arrange discreetly.' Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova went further, declaring that both Clintons knew everything about Epstein's activities and that Hillary Clinton's congressional testimony was 'lies,' pointing to the name 'Lolita Express' for Epstein's plane as evidence that passengers understood the nature of his crimes.
Former President Bill Clinton sat for a closed-door deposition before the House Oversight Committee on Friday, February 27, one day after his wife's testimony. Chairman James Comer indicated the session would be even longer than Hillary Clinton's, noting that she had deferred questions about Epstein to her husband more than a dozen times. Unlike Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton had a well-documented relationship with Epstein including flights on his plane and White House visits. The top committee Democrat, Rep. Robert Garcia, called for serious questions rather than the conspiracy theory tangents that marked the previous day's proceedings.