Former U.S. President Bill Clinton has addressed for the first time one of the most widely circulated images released from the Epstein files, a photograph that shows him sitting in a hot tub with an unidentified individual.
Clinton testified before the House Oversight Committee during a deposition in Chappaqua, New York, on Friday. The former president, now 79, was questioned about a recently released image depicting him in a hot tub alongside a woman whose face has been obscured by a black square.
“I don’t think I ever knew the photo was taken,” Clinton said during the four-and-a-half-hour deposition. He added that he was “almost sure” the image was taken at a hotel in Brunei during the final leg of an Asian tour connected to his AIDS initiative.
Clinton told the committee that he had met and developed a relationship with the Sultan and Prime Minister of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, during his presidency.
According to Clinton, Bolkiah expressed interest in supporting the former president’s AIDS initiative after learning of his planned visit to the country. Clinton said the Sultan requested that he stay at a particular hotel and encouraged him to use the pool facilities.
“So I did,” Clinton said. “And then I got out and went to bed exhausted.”
Another image included in the Department of Justice’s most recent release shows Clinton swimming in a pool with Jeffrey Epstein and Epstein’s associate, Ghislaine Maxwell.
During his testimony, Clinton said he spent only a short time in the pool and hot tub before retiring for the night. He stated that he did not know the identity of the woman photographed with him but recalled that a Secret Service agent was present in the room.
Clinton also told the committee that the woman shown in the image was not under the age of 18 and said he did not have any sexual relations with her.
The newly released photos and documents were made public under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which requires the Department of Justice to make files related to Epstein’s sex trafficking investigation publicly accessible and searchable.
The materials include images of Clinton posing with a range of public figures, 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 magazine to a statement posted on 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 added, “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.”
Previously, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Department of Justice would not be able to release the Epstein files in full, citing the need for additional time to complete redactions across hundreds of thousands of pages related to the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.
“Today, the Department of Justice publicly released materials related to Jeffrey Epstein under the Epstein Files Transparency Act,” Blanche wrote in a post on X on Dec. 19.
“Additional responsive materials will be produced as our review continues, consistent with the law and with protections for victims.”
