Bill Clinton to Testify Before Congress
Former President Bill Clinton has agreed to testify before Congress regarding his ties to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. The testimony marks the first time a former U.S. president will give such testimony in over four decades. The hearings are seen as a reflection of the Democratic Party's willingness to distance itself from the political dynasty of the 1990s and 2000s.
The last time a former U.S. president testified before Congress was when Gerald Ford discussed the Constitution's 200th anniversary in 1983. Before Ford, Harry Truman spoke about the U.N. charter in 1955, making Clinton's adversarial deposition a historically rare event. The testimony, held behind closed doors, is part of the House Oversight Committee's investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. Both Bill and Hillary Clinton initially fought the subpoenas, agreeing to testify only after House Republicans threatened to hold them in contempt of Congress. Bill Clinton's association with Epstein began in the 1990s, with Epstein visiting the White House at least 17 times during Clinton's presidency. After leaving office, Clinton traveled on Epstein's private Boeing 727, nicknamed the "Lolita Express," for trips related to the Clinton Foundation. A spokesperson for Clinton has stated the former president took four trips on Epstein's jet in 2002 and 2003. However, flight logs unsealed in a lawsuit show Clinton's name on 26 individual flights during that period. Clinton has denied any knowledge of Epstein's crimes and said he cut ties with him around 2005. Clinton has repeatedly denied ever visiting Epstein's private island, Little St. James, or his residences in Florida and New Mexico. Emails from Epstein himself, made public in November 2025, appear to corroborate this, with Epstein writing in 2015 that "clinton was NEVER EVER there." The day before her husband's testimony, Hillary Clinton appeared before the same committee, calling the proceedings "partisan political theatre." She stated she had no information about Epstein and did not recall ever meeting him.
