The former president has spoken out for the first time about the viral photo from the Epstein files
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/bill-clinton-030226-1-380dea526556490082cb9f6e125fb0a1.jpg "Bill Clinton speaks onstage during the Clinton Global Initiative 2025 Annual Meeting on September 24, 2025")
Credit: Andrew Schwartz/SIPA/Shutterstock
NEED TO KNOW
- Bill Clinton has spoken out for the first time about one of the most viral photos to come out of the latest batch of the Epstein files
- The photo in question showed the former president lounging in a hot tub along with a woman whose face has been redacted with a black square
- “I don’t think I ever knew the photo was taken,” Clinton said during the four-and-a-half-hour deposition
Bill Clinton has spoken out for the first time about one of the most viral photos to come out of the Epstein files, which featured him in a hot tub with an unknown person.
Testifying at his deposition by the House Oversight Committee in Chappaqua, N.Y., on Friday, Feb. 27, the former president, 79, answered questions about a recently released photo of himself lounging in a hot tub with a woman whose face has been redacted with a black square.
"I don't think I ever knew the photo was taken," Clinton said during the four-and-a-half-hour deposition, stating that he was "almost sure" the image was taken at a hotel in Brunei on the final leg of an Asian tour for his AIDS initiative.
Credit: Department of Justice
The former president said he had met and gotten to know the Sultan and Prime Minister of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, during his time in the Oval Office.
When he learned Clinton would be visiting the country, he said the Sultan wanted to assist with the former president's AIDS initiative. Clinton said that Bolkiah wanted him to stay at a specific hotel and said he should use the pool.
"So I did," Clinton said. "And then I got out and went to bed exhausted."
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Another photo in the Department of Justice's most recent file release showed Clinton swimming in a pool with Epstein and his co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell.
Clinton told the committee during his deposition that he swam in the pool and hot tub for a short while before going to bed, and said that he did not know who was photographed with him in the water, but remembered that there was a Secret Service agent also in the room.
The former president also said the woman in the photo was not younger than 18, and said he did not have any sexual relations with her.
Credit: Department of Justice
The recent trove of photos and documents released was done so in accordance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the legislation that required the Department of Justice to make all files related to Epstein's sex trafficking investigation public and searchable. Among the photos are pictures of Clinton posing with various celebrities including Mick Jagger, Diana Ross and Michael Jackson. Jagger and Ross have not been accused of any wrongdoing.
A representative for Clinton previously referred PEOPLE to a statement posted to X by Clinton's deputy chief of staff, Angel Ureña. The statement, titled "Statement from me," read, "The White House hasn't been hiding these files for months only to dump them late on a Friday to protect Bill Clinton. This is about shielding themselves from what comes next, or from what they'll try and hide forever."
"They can release as many grainy 20-plus-year-old photos as they want, but this isn't about Bill Clinton," the statement continued. "Never has, never will be. Even Susie Wiles said Donald Trump was wrong about Bill Clinton."
The statement went on to say, "There are two types of people here. The first group knew nothing and cut Epstein off before his crimes came to light. The second group continued relationships with him after. We're in the first. No amount of stalling by people in the second group will change that. Everyone, especially MAGA, expects answers, not scapegoats."
Credit: Eugene Gologursky/Getty for The New York Times
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche previously announced that the agency would not be able to release the Epstein files in full, saying that the DOJ needed more time to complete redactions in the hundreds of thousands of pages of documents related to Epstein's investigation.
"Today, the Department of Justice publicly released materials related to Jeffrey Epstein under the Epstein Files Transparency Act," Blanche wrote in a post to his X account on Dec. 19. "Additional responsive materials will be produced as our review continues, consistent with the law and with protections for victims."
