A sign of the times: About 30 current Democratic members of Congress were on Capitol Hill when Bill Clinton was president. Roughly a dozen sitting senators served in the Senate alongside Hillary.
Lawmakers mention Clinton’s deposition before hearing testimony
Lawmakers from both parties outlined their expectations and concerns ahead of the Clintons’ depositions.
WASHINGTON – In late February 2016, Hillary Clinton won an overwhelming victory in the South Carolina Democratic presidential primary. It was a clear signal that the former first lady and secretary of state had the upper hand within her party to win the historic nomination that many expected would make her the first female president.
Ten years later, that same week, she faced a very different reality.
Sitting inside a performing arts center in Chappaqua, New York, the woman, until recently the party’s undisputed standard-bearer, was coerced by party insiders in part to answer questions about her relationship with her husband, a deceased sex trafficker.
As a group of young Congressional Democrats stood outside the building ahead of her deposition regarding Jeffrey Epstein, they emphasized how they wanted to send a message of political neutrality, even though there was no evidence that she even knew the disgraced investor.
“From day one, we have said we want to talk to anyone who has information about Jeffrey Epstein,” said Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee. “We talk to anybody, whether they’re Democrats or Republicans. We talk about how much wealth they have, how powerful their positions are. We want to talk to anybody. We’re glad to be here.”
Hillary Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, have agreed to take part in private depositions on February 26 and 27 regarding the Oversight Committee’s Epstein investigation. Their testimony came after several Democrats on the committee voted in January to move forward with consideration of contempt of Congress charges against the former first couple. For weeks, a significant number of Democrats appeared prepared to censure the pair in a broad vote in the House.
Even Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Hillary Clinton’s running mate in the 2016 presidential election, did not explicitly defend her as his House colleagues focused their political attention on her.
“I have a big enough job here,” Cain told USA TODAY at the time. “I have no involvement whatsoever in what the House does. They’re going to do what they’re going to do, and I don’t get stressed about it.”
Photos of Bill Clinton, the 42nd president from 1993 to 2001, with or near Epstein and unidentified women have been prominently circulated since the Justice Department was required to comply with the Epstein File Transparency Act. Bill Clinton has repeatedly denied knowledge of Epstein’s alleged crimes or any wrongdoing related to them. He is scheduled to testify before the committee on Friday, February 27th.
In her testimony the day before, Hillary said she had never even had contact with Epstein.
“I have no recollection of meeting Mr. Epstein,” she said in her opening statement. “I have never been on his plane or visited his island, home or office. I have nothing to add to this.”
The deposition emphasized that the balance of power in Congress has changed since the Clintons were in the White House. There were only about 30 sitting Democrats in the Capitol at the time (compared to about 12 sitting senators serving alongside Hillary).
Even with the lack of strong support for the Clintons in Washington, most Democrats still want to criticize the Trump-Epstein relationship above all else. And many feel that the continued focus on longtime rivals is a coordinated effort to distract from what they claim is a “cover-up” of allegations against the president in the Epstein files.
“There is no indication whatsoever that Secretary Clinton had any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes,” Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-Va.) said before his first deposition. “My concern is that we are here today as part of a political exercise, part of a long-term fever dream by Republicans to lock up Secretary Clinton.”
Zachary Schermele is a Congressional reporter for USA TODAY. You can email us at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and on Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social..
