Hillary Clinton tells House panel she ‘had no idea’ of Epstein’s crimes

Hillary Clinton told a congressional panel she “had no idea” about Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes, as she called for lawmakers to question President Donald Trump under oath about his past association with the late sex offender.

“I want to see the truth come out,” the ex-US secretary of state said after testifying behind closed doors for hours to a congressional committee investigating Epstein.

Her husband, former President Bill Clinton, will testify on Friday.

The couple had resisted a subpoena from the panel, dismissing it as politically motivated, before agreeing to testify as potential contempt-of-Congress proceedings loomed against them. The Clintons and Trump deny wrongdoing in relation to Epstein.

After spending six hours on Thursday speaking to House Oversight Committee members, Clinton told reporters she was “disappointed” that the testimony was not made public, “so I wouldn’t have to be out here characterising it for you”. She also commended Chairman James Comer for raising a series of significant questions about the nature of the investigation and for hearing her out about the areas she thinks need to be explored.

Clinton released a copy of her opening statement on X ahead of Thursday’s hearing in Chappaqua, New York, near the Clinton home. “I had no idea about their criminal activities,” she said of Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. “I do not recall ever encountering Mr Epstein. I never flew on his plane or visited his island, homes or offices. I have nothing to add to that.”

In her statement, Hillary Clinton also pressed the House committee to summon Trump for questioning directly under oath about his name repeatedly showing up in the Epstein files. Her testimony on Thursday was briefly paused due to a photo leak from inside the closed-door session, which Democrats said violated committee rules.

The Clintons have previously accused Comer of “partisan politics” in his handling of the investigation, describing the legal summonses as “nothing more than a ploy to attempt to embarrass political rivals, as President Trump has directed”. Speaking after Hillary Clinton’s deposition, Comer said it was a “shame” it took seven months to set up the deposition, but that she answered most of their questions, though some answers were unsatisfactory to committee members.

Credit: BBC