In early March 2026, a rumor circulated online that convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein once sent an email in which he said former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was "much prettier in person."
For example, one X user shared a screenshot of the purported email (archived), suggesting it indicated Clinton lied under oath about never meeting Epstein. The caption read:
Hillary Clinton testified under oath today that she never met Jeffrey Epstein.
A 2011 email just surfaced of Epstein casually telling someone "Hey Hillary Clinton is much prettier in person."
She's still under oath.
Other iterations of the claim appeared on Instagram, Reddit and elsewhere on X.
🚨🇺🇸 Jeffrey Epstein: "Hillary Clinton is much more attractive in person." pic.twitter.com/jLwOHlXCcp
— Jackson Hinkle 🇺🇸 (@jacksonhinklle) February 27, 2026
The rumor spread following Clinton's Feb. 26, 2026, deposition with the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform regarding the Epstein case.
In short, the quote about Clinton being "prettier in person" authentically originated from the Department of Justice's Epstein files archive that was released to the public in late January 2026; however, it was incorrectly attributed to the late financier.
A simple read of the file in question (archived) clearly showed that someone whose name and email address were redacted sent the email featuring the quote, rather than Epstein himself.
The unknown person's email, sent Sept. 20, 2011, read in full: "High heels. Walk not a great idea. You could carry me. Does Eva live close to you? Hey Hillary Clinton is much prettier in person." A reply attributed to Epstein's email address read, "the car will pick you up , eva is on 85 and 5th."
The exchange, embedded below as a PDF, appeared to depict Epstein and the unknown sender trying to find a time to meet up, during which Epstein suggested a walk. Snopes was unable to determine who "Eva" referred to.
The GOP Oversight Committee posted Clinton's full deposition to YouTube on March 2, 2026. The rumored quote spread after Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-CO, asked the former secretary of state about the "prettier in person" comment, incorrectly attributing it to Epstein (from 3:58:27 onward).
Clinton responded to the remark by saying, "I'm not going to object to that."
Boebert's misreading of the email fueled the incorrect claim that Epstein sent the email featuring the quote. For example, one Instagram user (archived) posted a video featuring that segment of the deposition, alongside a caption that read, "Rep. Lauren Boebert said Jeffrey Epstein once remarked that 'Hillary Clinton is much prettier in person,' prompting Clinton to respond, 'I'm not going to object to that.'"
The phrasing of the caption, which is factually incorrect, implied that Clinton confirmed the comment came from Epstein when, in fact, she was responding to the comment itself, as depicted in the footage of the deposition.
A man who appeared to be a legal representative for Clinton replied to Boebert (detail in brackets ours): "Congresswoman, can we see the documents because we don't think ... we don't think the document says that. Not that you're not pretty [looking toward Clinton]."