Keep Factually independent
Whether you agree or disagree with our analysis, these conversations matter for democracy. We don't take money from political groups - even a $5 donation helps us keep it that way.
Did Vince Foster have an affair with Hillary Clinton
Executive summary
Claims that Hillary Clinton had a sexual affair with Vince Foster have circulated for decades and resurfaced in November 2025 after a 2016 Jeffrey Epstein email was highlighted; the email’s cryptic line reads “hillary doing naughties with vince” but is an allegation by Epstein, not an established fact [1]. Multiple reputable retrospectives and official investigations into Foster’s death documented friendship and professional ties between Foster and the Clintons and note long‑running rumors, but published investigations concluded Foster died by suicide and do not substantiate an affair [2] [3] [4].
1. The long relationship between Foster and the Clintons — documented, not salacious
Vincent “Vince” Foster was a longtime legal colleague and personal friend of Bill and Hillary Clinton from their Arkansas days; sources record he hired Hillary Rodham at the Rose Law Firm, taught Chelsea Clinton to swim, and was called “one of the best lawyers I’ve ever known” by Hillary in her memoir — facts that explain why rumors attached to his death [2] [3] [5].
2. What the newly public Epstein email actually says — a one‑line allegation, not evidence
The recent attention stems from an email exchange in Epstein’s 2016 correspondence where Epstein replied to Michael Wolff with the line “nussbaum white house counsel. . hillary doing naughties with vince,” a cryptic statement that alleges an illicit relationship but provides no corroboration, sourcing, or documentation beyond Epstein’s claim [1] [6]. Reporting that presents that line as a new “revelation” must be weighed against its provenance: a single informal message from Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender with no demonstrated access to corroborating evidence in this case [1].
3. Investigations into Foster’s death reached the same conclusion: suicide
Foster’s July 1993 death was exhaustively examined in contemporaneous and later inquiries, including reviews by the U.S. Park Police, special prosecutors (Robert Fiske and later Ken Starr), and congressional panels; those official inquiries concluded there was no evidence of homicide, and widely cited reporting and institutional accounts reflect the suicide determination [4] [7]. Conspiracy narratives — including claims about moved bodies or staged scenes — have been repeatedly examined and debunked or left unproven by these investigations [4] [7].
4. Rumors of an affair pre‑date Epstein’s email — sources vary and often rely on anonymous accounts
Allegations that Hillary and Foster had an affair have circulated since the 1990s and surfaced in books and tabloids — for example, Christopher Andersen’s book quoted state troopers and associates claiming Foster “showed up ‘like clockwork’” when Bill Clinton was away — but those accounts depend on second‑hand recollections and have not produced documentary proof; mainstream historical treatments treat such claims as unproven rumor rather than established fact [8] [3].
5. How to weigh new social‑media coverage and partisan outlets
Since the Epstein email surfaced it has been amplified on partisan and fringe websites that present the line as a bombshell. Those outlets often mix the email with longstanding conspiracy framing (the “Clinton body count” narrative) without adding independent evidence; readers should distinguish the email itself (an unverified one‑line claim in Epstein’s archive) from corroborated documentary or testimonial proof, which is not provided in the email or in subsequent reporting cited here [1] [9] [6].
6. What reputable fact‑checkers and retrospectives say about enduring conspiracy claims
Fact‑checking outfits and reliable histories have documented how Foster’s death spawned decades of conspiracy theories and point out the lack of evidence for murder or for the lurid allegations often appended to it; such sources caution against treating speculative or anonymous assertions as proof [7] [4]. They also trace how misinformation reverberates over time, sometimes resurfacing when new but thin items (like an email snippet) reappear [7].
7. Bottom line: available sources do not establish an affair
While the Epstein email contains an explicit allegation, it is an uncorroborated line from Epstein to Michael Wolff and is not evidence by itself. Decades of reporting and official investigations document Foster’s close ties to the Clintons and note persistent rumors, but they do not provide verified proof of a sexual affair between Hillary Clinton and Vince Foster; available sources do not mention any corroborated documentation or testimony that confirms such an affair [1] [2] [3] [4].
Limitations and conflicting viewpoints: the public record includes both anecdotal allegations (books, quoted troopers, anonymous recollections) and formal investigative findings; this analysis cites both strains — the rumor stream and the official conclusions — and leaves open that new, verifiable evidence could change the record, though none appears in the sources reviewed here [8] [7].