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What evidence exists about Vince Foster’s relationships with Hillary Clinton and others?
Executive summary
Reporting and public records show Vince Foster was a close friend, Rose Law Firm colleague and personal lawyer to Bill and Hillary Clinton; contemporaneous accounts describe him as a trusted associate who taught Chelsea Clinton to swim and helped hire Hillary at the firm [1] [2]. Longstanding rumors have alleged a sexual relationship between Foster and Hillary Clinton—repeated in books and recent attention around a 2016 Jeffrey Epstein email—but mainstream investigations concluded Foster’s death was a suicide and do not substantiate an affair claim; several of the contemporary allegations come from tabloids, memoirs or anonymous recollections rather than corroborated evidence [3] [4] [5] [6].
1. Close professional and personal ties documented
Multiple biographical sources and contemporaneous reporting establish Foster as a close friend and legal colleague of the Clintons: he worked at the Rose Law Firm with Hillary Clinton, aided in her hiring there, served as a personal lawyer during the early Clinton administration, and is described as a family friend who taught Chelsea Clinton to swim [1] [2]. TIME’s profile of Foster likewise recounts his role as the Clintons’ lawyer and notes Foster frequently referred to Hillary as “the client,” underscoring a client-attorney and working relationship [3].
2. The persistent rumor of an affair: origins and proponents
Allegations that Hillary Clinton had a romantic or sexual relationship with Foster surfaced soon after his 1993 death and have been recycled over decades. Christopher Andersen’s 1999 book quoted former Arkansas troopers and associates claiming Foster “showed up ‘like clockwork’” and that “Hillary and Vince were deeply in love,” while other posthumous recountings and tabloids amplified similar anecdotes [4]. More recently, fragments from Jeffrey Epstein’s email archive—an email line reading “hillary doing naughties with vince” circulated in 2016—have been used by multiple outlets to revive those claims [6] [7] [8].
3. Nature and quality of the evidence cited for an affair
The items cited in support of an intimate relationship are primarily anecdotal: recollections from former troopers, statements in popular books, gossip in tabloids and short, out-of-context lines from Epstein’s emails [4] [6]. These do not constitute corroborated documentary evidence—there are no cited contemporaneous private records, sworn affidavits from primary eyewitnesses, or official findings that confirm a sexual relationship. Many of the sources promoting the claim have partisan or commercial incentives to amplify scandal [4] [7].
4. Official investigations and counter-evidence about Foster’s death and records
Foster’s death was investigated by the U.S. Park Police and later examined by independent counsel and congressional panels; summaries and reporting note that these official probes concluded there was no evidence of homicide and ruled the death a suicide [5]. Reporting also documents controversy about documents removed from Foster’s office after his death and how files were handled—matters that fueled scrutiny and conspiracy theorizing but are distinct from direct proof of any affair [1] [5].
5. Recent revival via Epstein emails: provenance and credibility issues
The recent attention rests largely on a spuriously short email line from Jeffrey Epstein to Michael Wolff that some outlets quote as “hillary doing naughties with vince.” That line has been republished by partisan and tabloid sites; these pieces rely on an unverified snippet from Epstein’s cache rather than corroborated reporting, and outlets vary in their editorial standards and political slant [7] [8] [9]. Epstein himself was a convicted sex offender whose writings and claims are not intrinsically reliable; multiple websites reporting the email are partisan and have promoted conspiracy narratives in the past [6] [10].
6. How mainstream journalism and official records treat the claim
Major investigative outlets and the official inquiries into Foster’s death focused on forensic evidence and document chains, concluding suicide and not establishing any illicit sexual relationship; reporting that treats the affair allegation as fact is largely absent from the mainstream archive provided here [5]. Where mainstream outlets examine the Foster story, they highlight how rumor, incomplete records and partisan actors amplified speculation rather than presenting new corroboration of an affair [3] [5].
7. Bottom line and recommended caution for readers
Available sources document Foster’s professional and personal closeness to the Clintons but do not provide verified evidence of a sexual relationship; the most recent surge in claims depends mainly on anecdote, contested books and a brief Epstein email fragment promoted by partisan and tabloid outlets [1] [4] [6]. Readers should weigh the provenance and motivations of sources—books built on anonymous recollections and politically motivated websites differ from forensic findings and contemporary official reports—and treat sensational allegations that lack corroborating, verifiable documentation with skepticism [5] [7].