type: timeline_event
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave a roughly six-hour closed-door deposition before the House Oversight Committee on February 26, 2026, testifying about her knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein. The deposition took place at the Clintons' home in Chappaqua, New York. In her opening statement Clinton said: "I had no idea about their criminal activities. I do not recall ever encountering Mr. Epstein. I never flew on his plane or visited his island home or offices." She later stated she "answered every one of their questions as fully as I could based on what I knew" and characterized the proceeding as Republican "political theater."
The deposition was disrupted when Representative Lauren Boebert leaked a photograph taken inside the closed deposition room to a conservative social media influencer, causing the session to be paused. Democrats on the committee expressed outrage, noting that the deposition was designated as confidential and that Boebert's action may have violated House rules governing deposition proceedings. The episode illustrated how Republican-controlled investigative tools were being used for political performance rather than genuine fact-finding.
Democrats on the committee used the occasion to underscore the asymmetry in the investigative approach: Republican leadership was compelling depositions from a former Democratic presidential candidate over peripheral Epstein connections while DOJ had simultaneously withheld FBI interview records containing sexual abuse accusations against the sitting Republican president. Ranking Member Garcia and other Democrats formally put Republicans on notice that if the Clinton depositions continued, they would demand equivalent scrutiny of Trump — whose alleged ties to Epstein were supported by the withheld FBI records NPR had identified one day earlier.
Bill Clinton was scheduled for deposition the following day. The simultaneous pursuit of Clinton testimony and suppression of Trump-related Epstein records encapsulated the selective application of law enforcement and congressional oversight: aggressive exposure for political opponents, protective concealment for the president.