Law&Crime Sidebar - Bill Clinton Explains 'Shocking' Epstein Hot Tub Photos

Episode Date: March 3, 2026

Bill and Hillary Clinton's depositions to the House Oversight Committee about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein are making headlines. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber takes a deep dive into the former President and First Lady's explanations for specific photos found in the Epstein Files release, as well as their sometimes fiery reactions to the committee members' questions.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: You’re 30 seconds away from being debt free with PDS Debt. Get your free assessment and find the best option for you at https://PDSDebt.com/sidebar HOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger, Christina O'Shea, Alex Ciccarone, & Jay CruzScript Writing & Producing - Savannah Williamson & Juliana BattagliaGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrimeTwitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

And we returned to answer questions repetitively, literally over and over again. I don't know how many times I had to say I did not know Jeffrey Epstein. All right, so this is part two, Bill and Hillary Clinton's depositions to the House Oversight Committee. It's getting a lot of attention right now with people analyzing their answers that the former president and former First Lady gave in response to questions about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. How did they know him? Did they ever see or hear about any wrongdoing? When did they cut ties with the accused trafficker?

We did this yesterday. Now we are going to do a deeper dive into all of the Clinton's explanations. And sometimes, I will tell you, it got a bit tense. Welcome to Sidebar. Presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. So I said this last night that we were probably going to do a follow-up episode because last night we did breaking news.

We just got the videotaped depositions of Bill and Hillary Clinton. We wanted to send something out. to you as quickly as possible. This is part two. Okay, we wanted to do a follow-up, and as promised, here you go. Bill Clinton. I mean, every day we learn about new information about Jeffrey Epstein, his inner circle, his wide-raging influence, his alleged connections to powerful people all over the world, and for years, former President Bill Clinton, because a lot of the focus is more on him. We're actually going to focus more on his testimony in this episode. It has been brought up in connection with Epstein. And we know that Jeffrey Epstein's crimes and the allegations surrounding

him running this sex trafficking operation, right, this rampant alleged abusive teenage girls, that in and of itself can be explored. But the other part that's being explored right now, with so much of the release of the Epstein files, has been, did other people know about what he was accused of doing? Was it an open secret in some circles, right? That seems to be what the House Oversight Committee is trying to get to. And now the former president has been caught up in this. Why? The former president has acknowledged. taking trips on Epstein's private jet in the years after he left office as part of his charity work with the Clinton Foundation. It's also, you know, the Clinton Global Initiative. His name appears

on flight logs along with Secret Service agents. Galane Maxwell, right, convicted sex trafficker. She was connected to the Clintons, even attended their daughter, Chelsea's wedding. She was a plus one, but anyway. And here's the thing, too. Epstein reportedly donated money that was connected to President Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign and for Hillary Clinton's Senate campaign, in 2000. And according to ABC News, Epstein had visited the White House multiple times during Bill Clinton's presidency, signed in on the visitor logs reportedly 17 occasions between 1993 and 1995. So you can understand why there was a request, more like a demand, for the Clintons to sit down, be interviewed, and answer questions. I mean, President Clinton has also appeared

in a few photos with Jeffrey Epstein. And there was a very bizarre, apparently framed portrait of Clinton, wearing a dress, pearls, high heels. This was apparently hanging. in Epstein's Manhattan home. Very weird. And of course, we know there are the photos of him in a hot tub. We're going to talk about that. But to be clear, there is no evidence that we have seen or that has been reported by other outlets in the Epstein file suggesting the Clinton's engaged in any criminality or had knowledge of any criminality, including what Epstein was accused of doing. And look, this is strange because these depositions, we're kind of analyzing them like a jury would, right? Credibility, body language, responses. But it's not like the

Clintons are on trial. It's not like they're the subject of a criminal investigation or anything like that or facing criminal charges. They're not. But assessing their answers as part of the committee's work and better understanding Epstein's world, what he was up to. And for their purposes, seeing if there needs to be a change in the law, does there need to be reforms to make sure that there is not an Epstein 2.0 in the future, but also whether or not they can refer any matters, any criminal matters, to the Department of Justice. So, the committee members had a lot of questions for the Clint's and after months of trying to get them on the record and even there was this threat to hold them in contempt, the former president, former secretary of state, agreed to two four-hour depositions in Chappaqua, New York.

This is where they live at the city's performing arts center. All right, before we jump back into this, look, it's the new year, although no one's saying happy new years anymore, that'd be really weird. But the point is, if you have debt right now, the threat to your financial health stays the same. Look, debt is a silent killer, interest compounds, fees stack up, your financial problems multiply, but it doesn't need to stay that way. Our sponsor, PDS Debt, has helped hundreds of thousands escape debt, reduce what they owe, and take back control. So whether it's credit cards, personal loans, medical bills, PDS debt has customized options to help you pay off debt faster. And there's no minimum credit

score that's required. They look beyond the numbers at your unique financial situation and design personalized plans to help you pay off debt faster and put money back where it belongs in your pocket. Plus, they're A plus rated by the Better Business Bureau. Every month you wait is going to cost you more. But your way out starts right now. Don't wait for debt to strike again. Break free in 30 seconds, get your free personalized assessment, and the best option for you at PDSdebt.com slash sidebar. That's PDSdebt.com slash sidebar. PDSdebt.com slash sidebar. Now I want to dig in here, and we only scratched kind of the surface yesterday. So let me first start just a little bit more with Hillary Clinton, and then we'll

focus more on Bill Clinton. So Hillary's deposition was first last Thursday. The depositions, again, were filmed. The videos were released Monday evening. And again, we've, put out a sidebar last night as quickly as possible. We couldn't get to everything. So here's something new. This is where Clinton, Hillary Clinton, stated unequivocally that she had no relationship with Epstein or Maxwell and that she didn't even know most of the people the committee was asking her about. Madam Secretary, in the interest of efficiency here today, I'm going to ask you one question followed by a list of names. The question can be answered yes or no. If you do indicate yes to any individual. I will come back and revisit that at the end. The question is,

have you ever communicated with any of the following people relating to Jeffrey Epstein or Glyn Maxwell? Richard Kahn? No. Darren and Dyke? No. Sarah Kellynne? No. Doug Band. Not that I recall. Summers. No. Huma Abidine. Have I ever talked to her about this in preparation for this hearing, I have?

Outside of that? Not that I recall. Noam Chomsky. No. Leslie Groff. No. Nadia Marsenkova. No.

John Luke Brunel. No. I don't know most of these people. Should I tell you that I know know who they are just tell you i never talk to them just so you never talked to it's fine alan dershowitz no kathy rummler no bill richardson no george mitchell no george mitchell no andrew mount baiton windsor formerly prince andrew no as i say many of these people i've never heard of most of these people i've never had a relationship with although they i know their name some of them are deceased. But I was not communicating about Jeffrey Epstein and Gleine Maxwell. As I understand what

you're asking me, contacting people about them, that did not happen. Look, that's fair. She's not connected to Epstein the same way that her husband apparently was. I mean, she reportedly would consistently say to the committee, you'll have to ask my husband. But I will tell you something that really only a video playback of a deposition could capture. Transcript wouldn't really do this justice. This was fireworks, okay, this moment. Because after about an hour of testimony, things derailed when it was discovered that Representative Lauren Bobert had apparently taken a photo of Hillary Clinton inside the deposition room

and shared it. It went online. Big no-no. Because under the rules, there really can't be unauthorized photographs or videos in a closed-door deposition. You're showing me an email from someone who I don't recall knowing about a fundraiser that wasn't for me but was for Congresswoman Lowy. I have no information. I went to the fundraiser to support my friend Nita Lowy. All right. Excuse me. Can I interrupt? I have another photos that are being released of the secretary as she is testifying from inside this room. Can you please advise me as to whether or not that's permissible and consistent with the rules, particularly given that we, have asked for a public hearing. If there are photos that are being released of the secretary,

as she is testifying, can you please explain how that can occur? I'm done with this. If you guys are doing that, I am done. You can hold me in contempt from now until the cows come home. This is just typical behavior. We will go off the record. Oh, for heaven. So I would like to understand how that's permissible. It was, it doesn't matter. We all are abiding by the same rules. I will take that down. Yeah, well, I would like to take a break at this moment. I'd like to have I'm done for now. And Clinton was at times visibly irritated that she even had to be there, as there had been very little evidence that she was in fact connected in any way with Epstein.

And after it was over, Clinton spoke with reporters outside and referenced the fact that what was originally proposed as an open public hearing was changed to a deposition behind closed doors. Now, you'll hear the committee ultimately say, that's how they do it. These are the rules. This is how it happens. You do a private deposition, then a public hearing. But anyway, here's Hillary Clinton. They had a chance to do it in public, and I wish they had done it in public. And I think they're making the wrong decisions, avoiding doing it in public. I thought it was very repetitive.

I thought that they asked literally the same questions over and over again, which didn't seem to me to be very productive. And then, as I said, toward the end, you know, there were other questions that were totally off. subject. So if they are going to fulfill their responsibilities to literally investigate the investigations, which is what they originally said was the scope of their work, I think they could have spent the day more productively. Okay, now I want to talk about Bill Clinton. So the following day, Friday, it was the former president's turn to face questioning. Pretty historic to have a former president sitting down for a deposition like this. And by the way, this is all under oath. There are always potential legal consequences if someone's not telling the truth. I'm not saying

the Clintons weren't telling the truth, but that's why it's so significant. Okay, that's why it matters. That's why it's so important. Now, he did take a moment toward the beginning to kind of chastise the committee for dragging his wife into the frenzy surrounding the Epstein files. And the committee members grilled the former president about his connection to Jeffrey Epstein and why Clinton was in fact associated with him, although it is important to point out. Clinton apparently flew with Epstein on his private jet in the early 2000. So this is before Epstein was convicted in Florida for soliciting prostitution, including that of a minor. I'd like to start our conversation with a few foundational questions so we can just set the record straight from the very beginning.

With respect to your relationship with Mr. Epstein, did you ever at any point during your interactions with Jeffrey Epstein know about the sexual abuse that he was committing against minors and young women? No. Have you ever engaged in sexual activity with a person introduced to you by Jeffrey Epstein? No. With respect to your relationship with Ms. Galane Maxwell, did you ever, at any point during your interactions with Galane Maxwell,

know about the sexual abuse that she committed and facilitated against minors and young women? No. Have you ever engaged in sexual activity with a person introduced to you by Galane McSwell? McSwell? No. Have you ever at any point visited Jeffrey Epstein's former estate on Little St. James Island in the U.S. Virgin Islands? No.

In February of last year, Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Fox News that you traveled on Mr. Epstein's plane, quote, because it supposedly had a bed in there where Jeffrey Epstein had young girls. I will ask you, did you fly on Mr. Epstein's plane? because it had a bed where Jeffrey Epstein had young girls. No. Are there any other accusations that have been made against you with respect to Mr. Epstein that you'd like to address before we get started with some chronological questions?

I think you pretty well covered it. And I want to talk about a moment that has gone very viral. So Clinton, who's going to turn 80 this year, was given a few photographs from the Epstein files to look at. And he seems kind of to have taken a look at them with a grin. Now, some online have said it looks like he's reminiscing. I can't say that for sure. But just take a look at this and also look at his lawyer too.

Mr. President, do you recognize yourself in this photo? I do. And it appears that the man on the right of the photo is Jeffrey Epstein. Is that correct? I think so. Have you seen this photograph before today? Only in this picture. And for the record, what is happening in this photo?

He's smiling how he looks like he's talking to me. This is one of the friendly interactions that you were describing earlier. Yes. And can you describe the circumstances surrounding this photo? Are you asking you if he recalls? I do not. I have no idea. I see Richard Branson in the back and other people.

But I don't remember anything about it. You appear to be comfortable with Mr. Epstein in this photo? would you disagree with that characterization? You were creating a characterization. He's already responded to your question about the picture. I'm comfortable. I'm comfortable here. I'm not happy, but I'm comfortable.

And my conscience is clear, that helps. Okay. Mr. President, we have about five minutes remaining in the majority's first. hour. And then President Clinton had this face off with Representative Nancy Mace, who has been very vocal and very frustrated with the Epstein files. Just take a look at this. Mr. President, Congresswoman Nancy Mace from South Carolina, thank you for being here with us for hours today. I know it's been a long day and I know that we're going to wrap up soon for you.

Did you know one of the witnesses who testified in the Epstein cases that Epstein said, you quote, like them young? Why would Epstein say that about you? You asking his opinion? You're asking him to think about why Mr. Epstein would say something about him? Why would Epstein say that about the president? So she's asking you to try to be in Mr. Epstein's mind and guess at what Mr. Epstein would have thought about. First of all.

What? Well, I like them young referring to girls. First of all, that's not true. What's not true? That I have any interest in underage. I didn't say underage. I said young. But it's still not true.

Is an intern young? Yes. Okay. In my age, anybody younger than I was young. Did you know Jeffrey Epstein instructed a witness to deny you were ever on his island? He didn't have to since I was never there. And the former president had this to say when asked about whether current president, Donald Trump, should sit down for his own deposition because, as you know, Trump himself has mentioned

numerous times in the Epstein files, and there are even uncorroborated out. allegations of him participating in sexual abuse. We believe in the minority that President Trump should also answer this committee's questions. He's someone that is mentioned almost more than any other person beside Galane Maxwell in the EPSC documents. And so we want to get more information for this investigation, was wondering if you also agree that that President Trump should answer questions of this committee.

That's for you to decide, but he didn't know him well. And I once had a brief discussion with him about it. Thank you. Thanks for that answer. With that, I'm going to go to Mr. Walkenstein, and we'll go down a series of questions. I hate this, because I don't believe I should inject anything. But I do not want to leave the impression. But since there was no follow-up question, he never, the president, never, this is 20-something years ago,

never said anything to me to make me think he was involved in anything in proper regard to Epstein either. He just didn't. He just said we were friends and then we had a falling out over a land deal, property deal. That's all. By the way, speaking of President Trump, Clinton talked about what he knew of Epstein and Trump's apparent friendship and what Trump himself told him about his quote, great times with Epstein. So Donald Trump gave him the golf course in New York to have a tournament on, and I played it a couple of times. And the day I was there, he would typically, Donald Trump would come out and play a few holes with us. And he somehow knew I had flown in Jeffrey Epstein's aircraft,

and he said, you know, we had some great times together over the years, but we fell out all because of a real estate deal. And he said, I'm sorry it happened. That's all. Do you recall whether President Trump was the first one to affirmatively bring up the subject of Jeffrey Epstein? No, but I'd be shocked if I did. I just don't do that.

Do you recall whether President Trump elaborated at all on the great times that he had with Jeffrey Epstein? No, and I took, at the time I took no, I didn't put any, you know, sexual stem on it. And as far as you recall, President Trump characterized the nature of the ending of their friendship as being solely due to the real estate bidding property. Now, Clinton also had to address the now infamous photo of him in a pool or hot tub with the other person in the photo redacted out. looks very questionable. Well, Clinton explains that he believes this photo was taken in Brunei at the end of a long trip around Asia for the Clinton Foundation.

What we're trying to get out is some context for the public on whether you remember this photo and any details may be able to provide us about it. So do you recall the details of this photo or recall the photo being taken? No, I don't think I never knew the photo was taken. Okay. And for those who can't see it, it's a photo. you in a hot tub. There's a person next to you here. Do you remember where it was taken? Where was it taken? I'm almost sure that this taken, I think there's an adjacent photograph,

which you probably have, that if people saw it, they would feel that someone was trying to calm them showing this picture. But anyway, this picture was taken in Brunei. And we've flew one night on a trip to Asia. The last very long leg. He said we, isn't it? Who is that including? Well, my TIL team that was working on the AIDS issue and Mr. Epstein was there and Ms. Maxwell. But anyway, we got to the end of, the end of the flight was benign. It's a tiny place, but a very wealthy one. And it's a tiny place, but a very wealthy one. And the Sultan of the high was a man

that I had gotten to know well in my eight years as president. He said he wanted to help me with my age initiative, and he invited me to stay there. And he said, I want you to stay at this hotel, and I hope you will use the pool. So I did. And then I got out and went to bed, exhausted. Just for the record, there's another picture that also shows this as part of the larger pool area.

Do you all have that so he could refresh his recollection with respect to that? You should have it. It's quite enlightening. If you watch this, it's not as it. It'll give you a different field. Thank you. We do have it. We don't have it with us right now.

Okay. Thanks. I just wanted to make sure he knew the comment. And so I just, were there other people in that pool or hot tub with you as well? I don't think there's anybody in the hot tub. I don't even, I didn't forgotten that there was anybody in the hotel, but it was big, but it was about. Well, there's a, there's a, it appears there's a, there's a girl all over here. Is there someone?

Yeah, I don't know who that is. But he's also asking in the pool area, where there are other individuals. I don't know who that is. Okay, so you don't know. No, and then there were other people in the pool. Okay, so do you remember who, were they under 18? No. No.

Were they part of your traveling party, he's asking you? Yes, they were, I think. I think everybody there was part of our party. It was late at night and late-ish. I also believe that there was a Secret Service agent there at the other end of the pool. And was this in public? No, it was a hotel room. And the Sultan wanted us to stay there and the whole, the water, this big pool,

was on the same floor that there were several suites. And so we went out. I swam around and I sat in the hot tub for five minutes. I could go whatever it was and I got him and went to bed. And I have to ask us, did you engage any sexual activity with this person? Thank you. And of course, attention was also called to a photo of a young-looking female, giving President Clinton a neck rub or back rub as he sits in a chair.

At any point, did you or other male passengers receive a massage from this young woman or any other young women who are described as a masseuse? Well, I've seen one picture that shows it in an airport waiting area. One of the women was rubbing, was massaging my neck. That's all I've seen. Have you received more than one massage from these trips with Mr. Epstein and the young girls that were present? I don't recall them. But the problem I remember from that trip was that my naked spasm and I was in.

And so they offered a help and I let him help. This was interesting because Clinton at one point described Epstein as being like a vacuum cleaner, always looking to suck up as much information as possible from those around him. How would you describe the substance of your conversations with Jeffrey Epstein during the many hours that you spent together? aircraft? Well, at first, he really seemed to be like a vacuum cleaner, like he really wanted information. And there was no, to go back to the business with a, what do you call it, a passport, the false lane. There was nothing overtly manipulative about it. He just, he wanted to know, you know, what did I think of

derivatives trading? Did I think that the stock market was properly regulated or that it needed more? What, you know, how did we have the most broadly shared prosperity in 50 years? Was it just an accident? Was it just technology? Or do we have

specific policies? He wanted to know stuff like that. And it was great for the first, you know, two, three, four, five conversations. But I could tell that it was like, I mean, you guys are in politics. Don't you ever feel like sometimes somebody's talking to you and then they're just checking the box and they've got to go do something else and be somebody else. That's the way I felt.

That's important because, again, we're trying to understand what was Epstein after, right? And after a long four and a half hours, the depositorial. was concluded. As we start to close, is there anything you would like to add or clarify about what you've said here today? You're good. Well, you're good. I think we're fine. I am struggling because it's hard to know exactly what I knew when I knew it, given what I've learned since. It's become a kind of a compelling challenge. But I've tried to tell you what I knew then and when you ask what I think now, I think you have all of you, Mr. Chairman, you've had a chronologically challenging thing. You've got all the stuff that happened with Jeffrey Epstein, some of it as regards to President Trump going back to the late 90s. And that's a long time ago.

And then what we learn later, so it's been difficult. But I have enjoyed it. You've been very respectful to me and given me a chance to talk to you. We thank you for your time. I wish you well. I still will say if you can think of some things to do that will reduce the incidence of trafficking in America. And it should be possible for. us to virtually eliminate underage abuse. It should be. We just got to figure out what kind of

technology you need and what kind of policy. So thank you. So look, at the end of the day, where do we go from here? Again, it's not like Bill and Hillary spoke in front of a jury in an active trial. I haven't heard any blatant outright call saying they misrepresented what happened or weren't telling the truth or allegations of perjury. It seems the committee took their responses for now. They're moving forward to get a better understanding of the Epstein situation, maybe more of an explanation of what Epstein was a part of, why he wanted to have a connection with the Clintons, other well-known people. And to be fair, also, I think it would be rather difficult to impeach the credibility of the Clintons. You're talking about episodes from a very

long time ago. And again, to be clear, there is no evidence of any active criminal investigation into the Clintons. But this Epstein probe is as much about the American. people getting a front row view of all of the materials and all of the depositions and all the testimony so they can make a judgment as to what happened here. And this is just as much as about Congress and potentially prosecutors or law enforcement moving forward in any way if that happens. That's all we have for you right now here on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should get your podcast. You can also follow us on NBC's Peacock. We've got Sidebar episodes up there as well.

If you want to follow me, X Instagram, my News Nation show, Jesse Weber Live, Monday through Friday at 11 p.m. Eastern. I'll see you next time, everybody.