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Instead, the email was sent by Howard Lutnick, the CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald and currently serving as Commerce Secretary in the Trump administration. The message, dated November 2015, invited Jeffrey Epstein to what was described as an “intimate fundraising event” for Clinton’s presidential campaign at Cantor Fitzgerald’s offices in New York.
The email has drawn attention because Epstein had already been convicted of sex crimes years earlier.
During the deposition, Mace focused her questioning on the connection.
She asked Clinton directly: “How do you know Howard Lutnick?”
Rather than address the question immediately, Clinton reportedly pivoted to a lengthy explanation about the September 11 attacks, referencing the heavy losses suffered by Cantor Fitzgerald and her work in helping rebuild lower Manhattan in the years that followed.
When Mace attempted to steer the conversation back to Epstein and the fundraiser invitation, the tone inside the room reportedly changed dramatically.
Clinton leaned forward, pointed across the table, and raised her voice.
“You asked the question. I’m going to answer your question. This was what I spent my time doing.”
Mace Fires Back
Mace did not back down.
The South Carolina congresswoman, who has spoken publicly about surviving sexual assault, pushed back sharply during the tense exchange.
“I’m a survivor trying to look out for other survivors,” she said. “You want to yell at me – I’ll yell right back. I’m doing the job you would not do and refused to do as Secretary of State.”
The confrontation quickly became the most memorable moment of the multi-hour deposition.
Observers noted that instead of directly addressing the connection raised by the email, the discussion spiraled into a heated back-and-forth between the two women.
What the Epstein Files Reveal
The fundraiser invitation cited by Mace appears in the Justice Department’s released Epstein records.
Those documents raise questions about Lutnick’s timeline of contact with Epstein.
In a 2025 interview, Lutnick stated that he had cut ties with Epstein following a visit to Epstein’s apartment in 2005.
However, federal records suggest communication between the two men continued for years after that point.
According to documents reviewed by investigators, the two allegedly exchanged emails, maintained a joint business investment, and had overlapping travel connected to Epstein’s private island well into the 2010s.
One image that briefly disappeared from the Justice Department’s website before being restored reportedly shows Lutnick standing alongside Epstein on Little Saint James.
The fundraiser invitation from 2015 falls within that same period.
Federal Election Commission records show no donation from Epstein connected to the event. It remains unclear whether he ever attended.
During the deposition, Clinton testified that she had no knowledge of the outreach to Epstein.
Mace made clear she found that claim difficult to accept.
“If you want to sit there and obfuscate and say to this committee you didn’t try to get money from Jeffrey Epstein,” Mace told her, “I’ll yell right back.”
A Subpoena Battle That Lasted Months
Clinton’s testimony did not come easily.
The House Oversight Committee originally issued subpoenas in August 2025 as part of its investigation into Epstein and his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
Clinton declined to appear multiple times over the following months.
In October she refused the request.
She declined again in December.
Then in January, she publicly announced that she would not participate in the deposition at all.
Lawmakers responded by escalating the situation.
Both Republicans and Democrats voted to recommend contempt proceedings if the subpoena continued to be ignored. Nine Democrats joined Republicans in voting for contempt related to Bill Clinton, while three supported contempt proceedings tied to Hillary Clinton.
House Speaker Mike Johnson indicated the matter would move to a full vote if necessary.
Only after those actions did the Clintons finally agree to cooperate with the investigation.
Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said the sequence of events made the situation clear.
After six months of legal resistance and public defiance, he said, the Clintons ultimately “completely caved” once real penalties were on the table.
Four Hours of Questions
Clinton remained in the deposition room for more than four hours answering questions from lawmakers.
For someone who initially insisted she had little to contribute, critics say that lengthy testimony raised eyebrows.
But it was the heated exchange with Mace that captured the most attention.
The central question that sparked the confrontation still lingers: why was someone in Clinton’s fundraising network inviting Jeffrey Epstein to a campaign event years after his conviction?
That question, lawmakers say, remains unanswered.
