• Hillary Clinton told the BBC that the Trump administration is "slow-walking" the release of Epstein files and redacting names of men in the documents
• Trump fired back from Air Force One calling himself "totally exonerated" and saying Clinton "seriously has Trump derangement syndrome"
• Bipartisan lawmakers including Republican Thomas Massie and Democrat Ro Khanna say the DOJ is violating the transparency law they co-authored

BERLIN, GERMANY (TDR) — Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accused the Trump administration of orchestrating an Epstein files cover-up during a BBC interview in Berlin, where she attended the annual World Forum ahead of her scheduled congressional deposition next week.

"A law was passed in Congress to require that all the files that have anything to do with them be released. What we're seeing, I think it's fair to say, is a continuing cover-up by the Trump Administration."

Clinton went further, accusing the Department of Justice of deliberately obscuring key information from the public.

"Get the files out. They are slow-walking it. They are redacting the names of men who are in it. They are stonewalling legitimate requests from members of Congress."

😳 Hillary Clinton addresses Ghislaine Maxwell meetings and Epstein 'cover-up' in new BBC interview ahead of deposition.

Killiary Is Such A Liar! Just Watch Her Face As She Spews Her Shit! 😭 pic.twitter.com/uS7ILCC08V

— JC Vollentine (@Theonlyjcvolly) February 17, 2026

Trump Rejects Epstein Files Cover-Up Claim From Air Force One

President Donald Trump responded to Clinton's accusations aboard Air Force One Monday evening, claiming complete vindication and dismissing his 2016 opponent.

"I have nothing to hide. I've been exonerated. I have nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein. They went in hoping that they'd find it, and found just the opposite. I've been totally exonerated."

Trump added that Clinton "seriously has Trump derangement syndrome" and that the Clintons and "many other Democrats have been pulled in" to the Epstein matter.

The White House issued a statement defending the administration's record, saying it had released thousands of pages, cooperated with the House Oversight Committee's subpoena request, and called for further investigations — asserting the Trump administration "has done more for the victims than Democrats ever have."

The DOJ has previously stated that some documents in the files contain "unfounded and false" claims against Trump "submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election."

Bipartisan Lawmakers Say Epstein Files Cover-Up Goes Deeper

Neither Clinton's framing nor the administration's claims of full compliance align with what bipartisan congressional investigators have found after reviewing unredacted documents at DOJ headquarters.

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Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, co-author of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, went further than Clinton in his criticism — calling the Trump DOJ the "Epstein administration" on ABC's "This Week" last Sunday.

"The bill that Ro Khanna and I wrote says that they must release internal memos and notes and emails about their decisions on whether to prosecute or not prosecute, whether to investigate or not investigate."

Massie said Attorney General Pam Bondi cited "deliberative-process privilege" to justify withholding documents — a justification he says violates the statute he co-authored. During Bondi's Feb. 11 House Judiciary Committee hearing, she called Massie a "failed politician" rather than addressing his questions about redactions.

Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California, Massie's partner on the legislation, has echoed the criticism. After reviewing unredacted files at DOJ, the pair identified at least six men whose names had been redacted despite appearing to be incriminated by their inclusion — including one individual "pretty high up in a foreign government."

The Numbers in Dispute

The DOJ says it has released approximately 3.5 million pages of documents, along with 2,000 videos and 180,000 images, and maintains it has fulfilled its legal obligations. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has repeatedly stated the department is "committed to transparency" and "is hiding nothing."

But lawmakers on both sides dispute that characterization. The full Epstein files reportedly consist of over six million pages, meaning roughly half remain unreleased. An additional 200,000 pages were withheld or redacted based on various legal privileges.

Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland estimated it would take lawmakers seven and a half years to review the available documents on the four computers DOJ provided — a setup he called "part of the coverup."

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Raskin also claimed that searching Trump's name in the unredacted files returned results "more than a million times" — a figure that includes news clippings, financial records, correspondence and law enforcement documents Epstein's operation collected. In the publicly released redacted files, Trump's name had appeared approximately 38,000 times.

Clinton referenced Raskin's claim in her BBC interview, saying: "President Trump is mentioned, some say, a million times in the files. So let's find out what the truth is."

Clinton Deposition Week Approaches

Hillary Clinton is scheduled to testify before the House Oversight Committee on Feb. 26, with former President Bill Clinton appearing the following day. The depositions will be closed-door, filmed and transcribed.

The Clintons initially refused to comply with subpoenas, arguing other witnesses had been permitted to submit written statements under oath while they were being singled out. House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY) rejected those terms and prepared contempt proceedings before the couple agreed to his conditions.

"We will show up, but we think it would be better to have it in public. I just want it to be fair. I want everybody treated the same way."

Clinton told the BBC she claims no meaningful interactions with Epstein, never flew on his plane and never visited his island. She acknowledged meeting Ghislaine Maxwell "on a few occasions." Bill Clinton has acknowledged flying on Epstein's plane for Clinton Foundation humanitarian work between 2002 and 2003 but denies visiting Epstein's private island.

Neither Clinton has been accused of wrongdoing by Epstein's survivors.

What Both Sides Leave Out

Clinton's characterization of a targeted political prosecution omits the fact that Comer's subpoenas were voted on unanimously by the Oversight subcommittee — including Democrats — and that nine Democrats on the panel later supported the contempt vote.

Meanwhile, the administration's insistence on full transparency rings hollow to the bipartisan Massie-Khanna coalition, which notes the DOJ has yet to release the internal prosecutorial memos their law explicitly requires — documents that could explain why figures like Leslie Wexner were never prosecuted and why Epstein received his controversial 2008 plea deal.

Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) offered perhaps the most telling bipartisan assessment after reviewing the files herself.

"Now I see what the big deal is. And the members of Congress that have been pushing this were not wrong."

With both sides claiming the other has something to hide and bipartisan lawmakers saying the DOJ is violating its own transparency law — does the Feb. 26 deposition week bring the country closer to genuine accountability, or does the Clinton-Trump finger-pointing ensure the focus stays on political theater while the files that matter most remain buried?

Sources

This report was compiled using information from CNN's coverage of Clinton's BBC interview, TIME's reporting on the cover-up accusation, CBS News' reporting on the deposition timeline, France 24's coverage from Berlin, Newsweek's reporting on the White House response, MS NOW's coverage of Massie's Sunday interview, Axios' reporting on Raskin's file review and Massie-Khanna findings, NBC News' reporting on congressional file access, CNN's reporting on the unredacted file review, CBS News' live updates on the DOJ file release, the House Oversight Committee's official statement, The Hill's reporting on the deposition standoff, and Wikipedia's timeline of the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

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