Bill Clinton told panel Larry Summers introduced him to Epstein

Patricia Hurtado, Caitlin Reilly and Chris Strohm, Bloomberg News on Mar 2, 2026

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Former President Bill Clinton told the House panel investigating Jeffrey Epstein that former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers introduced him to the disgraced financier after Clinton departed the White House.

The panel released video on Monday of its questioning of the former president and his wife, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Both denied any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes during their depositions.

Summers, then the president of Harvard University, told Clinton that Epstein had “a massive airplane” and “was an information-hungry person” interested in economics and politics, Clinton said. The former president said his onetime Treasury secretary told him the plane would be useful for international trips for humanitarian work and could accommodate Clinton’s staff and Secret Service detail.

Summers announced last month he was retiring from his Harvard professorship following revelations his past associations with Epstein were deeper than previously known.

A spokesman for Summers didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

After U.S. lawmakers late last year made public correspondence between Summers and Epstein, the former Harvard president said he was “deeply ashamed” of his actions, taking responsibility for his “misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr. Epstein.”

The video shows Bill Clinton being questioned extensively about international flights he took on Epstein’s private plane during 2002 and 2003, before Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to a prostitution charge.

Clinton told the committee he flew on the plane with an understanding he would spend at least an hour on each flight speaking with Epstein about economics or politics.

“Well, at first, he really seemed to be like a vacuum cleaner. He really wanted information,” the former president said. But over time, Epstein seemed be “just checking a box” with the conversations, he continued.

Clinton said his relationship ended with Epstein in about 2003 when he took his last flight on Epstein’s plane.

“I didn’t think he was really interested in what I was doing,” Clinton said. “I’ve always, over the years, with these donors, tried not to overstrain my welcome.”

Last Friday’s deposition marked the first time a former president was forced to testify to Congress. His wife testified before the same panel last Thursday.

Donald Trump and his allies have sought to put a spotlight on Epstein’s connections to Democrats, including the Clintons, amid public attention on the sex offender’s ties to the president and his associates, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and former senior adviser Steve Bannon.

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(With assistance from Alicia Diaz, Jimmy Jenkins and Emily Birnbaum.)