WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told U.S. House lawmakers in New York on Thursday that she knew nothing about the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein or Ghislaine Maxwell, kicking off two days of testimony that also included former President Bill Clinton.
“I had no knowledge of their criminal activities. I do not recall ever meeting Mr. Epstein,” Hillary Clinton said in opening remarks shared on social media.
The closed-door deposition in the Clintons’ hometown of Chappaqua, a typically sleepy hamlet north of New York City, followed months of tense back-and-forth between the former high-powered Democratic couple and the Republican-controlled House Oversight Committee. This will be the first time a former president has been forced to testify before Congress.
Yet demands for a reckoning over Epstein’s abuse of underage girls have become an almost unstoppable force on Capitol Hill and beyond.
Republican President Donald Trump, who last year released Epstein’s case files under pressure, expressed regret that the Clintons were forced to testify. Epstein committed suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial in a New York prison. The Clintons also agreed to testify after their proposed sworn statements were rejected by the oversight panel and its chairman, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., threatened them with criminal contempt of Congress charges.
“Like every decent person,” Hillary Clinton added in her opening remarks, “I am appalled by the crimes they committed.”
She has said her husband flew with Epstein on charity trips but she did not remember meeting him. She had interacted with Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend and confidant, at a conference hosted by the Clinton Foundation.
British socialite Maxwell also attended their daughter Chelsea Clinton’s 2010 wedding.
Republicans welcome opportunity to question Clintons
Yet Bill Clinton has emerged as a top target for Republicans in the political battle over who faces the most scrutiny for his ties to Epstein. The first batch of Epstein files released by the Justice Department in January contained several photos of the former president, including some of him with women whose faces had been edited. Clinton has not been accused of wrongdoing in her relationship with Epstein.
Cuomo also cited Hillary Clinton’s work as secretary of state to address sex trafficking as another reason to insist on her testimony. Clinton defended her work to address sex trafficking around the world, saying it was still important to help the millions of sex trafficking survivors.
The committee’s investigation also seeks to understand why the Justice Department under previous presidential administrations did not bring further charges against Epstein. In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty to Florida charges of prostitution of underage girls but avoided federal charges.
Hillary Clinton accused Cuomo of conducting a one-sided investigation that failed to hold Trump and other Republican officials accountable. “This institutional failure was designed to protect a political party and a public official,” she said.
Yet conspiracy theories, especially from the right, have for years surrounded the Clintons and their ties to Epstein and Maxwell, who believed she was wrongly convicted. Republicans have long wanted to pressure the Clinton family for answers.
Cuomo promised lengthy questioning of the Clintons.
“We have a lot of questions and the purpose of this entire investigation is to try to learn a lot of things about Epstein,” he told reporters outside the convention center where the testimony was held. “How did he amass so much wealth? How was he able to surround himself with the most powerful people in the world?”
Cuomo described the testimony as a bipartisan effort and said Thursday that it was “very likely” the committee would question Trump’s Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, a neighbor of Epstein’s who had numerous interactions with him. Under questioning from Democrats earlier this month, Lutnick admitted that he met with Epstein twice after the late financier was convicted of soliciting prostitution in 2008, reversing his previous statement that he severed ties with Epstein after 2005.
Democrats call on Trump to testify
Democrats, now led by a new generation of politicians, prioritized transparency about Epstein over defending the party’s former leader. Last month, several Democratic lawmakers joined Republicans on an oversight panel raising congressional contempt charges against the Clintons. Some said they had no ties to the Clintons and no loyalty to them.
On Thursday, Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the Democratic leader of the oversight panel, also called on Trump to testify in the investigation. He believes that the emergence of Bill Clinton set a precedent that should also apply to Trump.
“Let President Trump appear before our committee to answer questions from survivors across the country,” Garcia said.
Cuomo has previously said the committee cannot remove Trump because he is the current president.
Still, Democrats this week also sought to confront Trump over his administration’s handling of the Epstein dossier by inviting women who survived Epstein’s abuse as guests at Trump’s State of the Union address. Even top Democrats, including former Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, have said it would be appropriate for the committee to interview anyone with ties to Epstein, including the former president.
“We want to hear from everyone,” Pelosi said, adding that she didn’t understand why Hillary Clinton was being interviewed and that it was important to “believe survivors.”
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