Hillary Clinton's denial that she ever met Jeffrey Epstein is facing renewed scrutiny after resurfaced photographs placed the late financier and Ghislaine Maxwell at a White House donor reception she attended in Washington in 1993, according to images held by the William J. Clinton Presidential Library and earlier reporting.
The pictures re‑emerged as Clinton testified behind closed doors to the House Oversight Committee on Thursday 26 February, where she insisted she had 'no idea' about Epstein and Maxwell's crimes and did not recall ever encountering him.
The tension is obvious. On one hand, there is sworn testimony from a former US secretary of state and presidential candidate, stressing distance from one of the most notorious sex offenders of recent decades.
On the other, there is a photographic record showing Epstein and Maxwell as guests at a White House event during her husband's presidency, speaking with Bill Clinton while Hillary appears elsewhere in the same reception.
Epstein Photos Undercut Hillary Clinton's Flat Denial
In her opening statement to the committee, later posted in full on X, Hillary Clinton said she had no awareness of Epstein or Maxwell's abuse when it was taking place.
'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 told lawmakers, framing herself as a distant onlooker to a scandal that has engulfed other powerful names.
Here is my opening statement to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee today. pic.twitter.com/NZSF2epcI5
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) February 26, 2026
Those categorical claims now sit uneasily alongside the official photographs, released in April 2021 from the Clinton Presidential Library, which show Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell at a 1993 White House reception for donors to the White House Historical Association. In one image, Epstein is seen shaking hands with then‑President Bill Clinton. Other frames show Maxwell nearby, engaging with guests.
Hillary Clinton is not captured interacting with Epstein or Maxwell in the publicly available images. She does, however, appear to be present at the same function, including in at least one photograph where she is seen talking with another attendee while the reception unfolds around her.
The Clinton camp has long tried to erect a wall between these images and Epstein's later downfall. A spokesperson for Bill Clinton, Angel Ureña, said in a July 2019 statement that 'President Clinton knows nothing about the terrible crimes Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty to in Florida some years ago, or those with which he has been recently charged in New York.'
Both Bill and Hillary Clinton have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and have not been accused of any crimes related to Epstein and Maxwell's trafficking network.
House Hearing Puts Clinton And Epstein Back In The Same Frame
The House Oversight Committee session this week was ostensibly about the so‑called Epstein files rather than the Clintons' social calendar in the early 1990s. Hillary Clinton used much of her prepared remarks to criticise the panel and to turn the focus towards Donald Trump.
'[Y]ou have compelled me to testify, fully aware that I have no knowledge that would assist your investigation, in order to distract attention from President Trump's actions and cover them up despite legitimate calls for answers,' she said, accusing Republicans of political theatre rather than genuine fact‑finding.
She went further, arguing that if the committee were serious about understanding Epstein's trafficking operation, it would press the former president under oath.
'If this committee is serious about learning the truth about Epstein's trafficking crimes, it would not rely on press gaggles to get answers from our current president on his involvement; it would ask him directly under oath about the tens of thousands of times he shows up in the Epstein files,' she told members.
Notably, she did not address the 1993 reception, the presidential library photographs or earlier press reports about Epstein's access to the White House.
A 2019 Daily Beast article, cited in previous coverage, alleged Epstein attended the donor event after contributing $10,000 (£7,424) to the White House Historical Association and visited the building on other occasions in that era. Those details, like the images themselves, sit in the background of her testimony, never mentioned yet impossible to ignore.
The hard facts about Epstein and Maxwell are not in dispute. Epstein was charged with sex trafficking of minors in 2019 and died by suicide later that year while in federal custody. Maxwell was later convicted on federal sex trafficking charges and is now serving a 20‑year prison sentence.
