Hillary Clinton has told a Congressional inquiry she had no knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein’s or Ghislaine Maxwell’s crimes, at the start of two days of evidence that will also include statements from her husband, the former president Bill Clinton. “I had no idea about their criminal activities. I do not recall ever encountering Mr Epstein,” the former secretary of state said in an opening statement.
The closed-door depositions to legislators from the House of Representatives, being held in the Clintons’ hometown of Chappaqua in upstate New York, come after months of tense back-and-forth between the Democratic couple and the Republican-controlled House oversight committee. It will be the first time a former president has been forced to give evidence before Congress.
Not long after Thursday’s hearing began, it was briefly paused when Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert sent a photo of Clinton with a conservative influencer who reposted it on social media; the photo violated committee rules but Boebert said the influencer “did nothing wrong”.
Demands for a reckoning over Epstein’s abuse of underage girls have become a near-unstoppable force in Washington and beyond.
Donald Trump, who has expressed regret that the Clintons are being forced to give evidence, bowed last year to pressure to release case files on Epstein, who died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial.
The Clintons agreed to give evidence after their offers of sworn statements were rebuffed by an oversight panel and its chairman, James Comer, threatened charges of criminal contempt of Congress against them.
“We have a very clear record that we’ve been willing to talk about,” Hillary Clinton said in an interview with the BBC this month. She added that her husband had flown with Epstein for charitable trips and that she did not recall meeting Epstein but had interacted with Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend and confidant, at conferences hosted by the Clinton Foundation. Maxwell also attended the 2010 wedding of the Clintons’ daughter, Chelsea.
“We are more than happy to say what we know, which is very limited and totally unrelated to their behaviour or their crimes, and we want to do it in public,” Ms Clinton said.
Bill Clinton has emerged as a leading target for Republicans in the political struggle over who receives the most scrutiny for their ties to Epstein. Several photos of him were included in the first tranche of Epstein files released by the Department of Justice in January, including a number of him with women whose faces were blacked out. Mr Clinton has not been accused of wrongdoing in his relationship with Epstein. Mr Comer has also pointed to Hillary Clinton’s work as secretary of state to address sex trafficking as another reason to insist on her deposition.
The committee’s investigation has sought to understand why the Department of Justice under previous presidential administrations did not seek further charges against Epstein following a 2008 arrangement in which he pleaded guilty to state charges in Florida for soliciting prostitution from an underage girl but avoided federal charges.
Yet conspiracy theories, especially on the right, have swirled for years around the Clintons and their connections to Epstein and Maxwell, who continues to argue that she was wrongfully convicted.
Republicans have long wanted to press the Clintons for answers, and Mr Comer has promised lengthy days of questioning for both Clintons.
“We have a lot of questions, and the purpose of the whole investigation is to try to understand many things about Epstein,” he told reporters outside the convention centre where the depositions were being held. “How did he accumulate so much wealth? How was he able to surround himself with some of the most powerful men in the world?”
Democrats, now being led by a new generation of politicians, have prioritised transparency around Epstein above defending former leaders of their party.
Robert Garcia of California, the senior Democrat on the oversight panel, also called on Mr Trump to give evidence in the investigation. He argued that Bill Clinton’s appearance has set a precedent that should apply to Mr Trump as well. “Let’s get President Trump in front of our committee to answer the questions that are being asked across this country from survivors,” Mr Garcia said.
Even senior Democrats, such as the former speaker Nancy Pelosi, said it was appropriate for the committee to interview anyone, including the former president, who was connected to Epstein. “We want to hear from everyone,” Ms Pelosi said, adding that she did not see why Hillary Clinton was being interviewed and that it was important to “believe survivors”.
