WASHINGTON
Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday denied any knowledge of the criminal activities of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein or his associate Ghislaine Maxwell during a closed-door deposition before a congressional committee.
"As I stated in my sworn declaration on January 13, I had no idea about their criminal activities. 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," Clinton said in a prepared opening statement that she posted on the US social media company X’s platform.
The deposition in New York follows a decision earlier this month by Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, to comply with a request by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and sit for questioning rather than face contempt of Congress proceedings for a previously issued subpoena.
Bill Clinton is scheduled to meet with the committee on Friday.
Clinton said she respected Congress’ oversight authority but sharply criticized what she characterized as a partisan investigation designed to shield political allies rather than uncover the truth.
“As a former Senator, I have respect for legislative oversight and I expect its exercise, as do the American people, to be principled and fearless in pursuit of truth and accountability,” Clinton said. “As we all know, however, too often, Congressional investigations are partisan political theater."
Speaking to the media before the deposition, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer said it is not "a partisan witch hunt."
“No one’s accusing, at this moment, the Clintons of any wrongdoing. They’re going to have due process,” Comer said, adding the committee has a lot of questions.
Meanwhile, advisers to Hillary Clinton said the hearing has been paused due to an unauthorized photo from the session that was shared on social media.
"It came from (influencer) Benny Johnson. He said (Congresswoman) Lauren Boebert gave it to him," one of the advisers told reporters.
Referring to the leaked photo, Rep. Robert Garcia told reporters that it was completely against the rules.
"We're grateful the secretary continued the deposition, but (the leak was) not acceptable," Garcia added.
Earlier, Garcia said that House investigators intend to broaden their inquiry related to Epstein and called for testimony from President Donald Trump.
"Let's get President Trump in front of our committee to answer the questions that are being asked across this country from survivors, from those who have been brutally attacked and raped, sometimes as children," he said.
The Democrat also accused the Department of Justice of withholding records tied to the Epstein case.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also accused the department of hiding the truth.
"There's a massive cover-up going on in the Justice Department to protect Donald Trump and people associated with Jeffrey Epstein," he told reporters on Capitol Hill.
- 'I never met Jeffrey Epstein'
Later, speaking to reporters, Comer said the deposition concluded.
"It's a shame that it took seven months to get Ms. Clinton in," he said, adding she answered most of the questions.
"We're going to try to get the video out as quickly as possible, hopefully within the next 24 hours," he said.
Comer was asked if Republicans were serious about investigating Epstein, why the committee would not call Trump to testify.
"President Trump has answered hundreds, if not thousands of questions from you all about Epstein, and I think he's been very transparent in releasing the documents," he replied.
Hillary Clinton, for her part, said she answered "every one of their questions as fully as I could."
"I never met Jeffrey Epstein, never had any connection or communication with him...I knew Ghislaine Maxwell casually, as an acquaintance," she said.
Clinton said it was "disappointing" that they did not hold a public hearing.
She expressed frustration over questions from House Republicans about UFOs and the debunked “Pizzagate” conspiracy during her deposition.
“It then got, at the end, quite unusual because I started being asked about UFOs and a series of questions about Pizzagate — one of the most vile bogus conspiracy theories that was propagated on the internet — that was serving as the basis of a member’s questions to me,” Clinton said.
Epstein was found dead in his New York City jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. In 2008, he pleaded guilty in a court in the state of Florida to procuring a minor for prostitution, but critics call the relatively minor conviction a “sweetheart deal.”
His victims have alleged that he operated a sprawling sex trafficking network that was used by members of the wealthy and political elite.
