Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday (26 February) that she had no information about the criminal activities of Jeffrey Epstein and urged lawmakers to question President Donald Trump under oath about the disgraced financier.
In a statement to the House of Representatives Oversight Committee, Clinton said: “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.”
Her statement was issued as she was due to give a closed-door deposition before the committee in Chappaqua, New York.
Clinton, the Democratic Party’s 2016 presidential nominee, has repeatedly said she does not recall meeting Epstein and has no personal knowledge of his crimes.
She and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, initially declined to testify before the committee but agreed after lawmakers moved to hold them in contempt of Congress. Bill Clinton is scheduled to appear before the committee on Friday.
Ahead of the hearing, Oversight Committee chairman James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky, rejected suggestions that the inquiry was a partisan effort targeting Trump’s former 2016 election rival. He noted that several Democrats had also called for the Clintons to testify.
“No one is accusing at this moment the Clintons of any wrongdoing,” Comer said.
He said the committee would seek information about any interactions Hillary Clinton may have had with Epstein, his involvement in the Clintons’ charitable work, and any relationship she may have had with Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently in prison.
Representative Robert Garcia of California, the committee’s most senior Democrat, told reporters that Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick should also testify. Lutnick has acknowledged visiting Epstein’s private island years after he said he had cut ties with him.
A spokesperson for the Clintons did not respond to a request for comment. Comer said transcripts of the Clintons’ interviews would be made public.
Questions remain over the extent of the Clintons’ links to Epstein. Bill Clinton flew on Epstein’s plane several times in the early 2000s after leaving office. He has denied any wrongdoing and has expressed regret over his association with the financier.
According to Comer, Epstein visited the White House 17 times during Bill Clinton’s presidency.
Trump also socialised extensively with Epstein in the 1990s and 2000s, before Epstein’s 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor. Comer said evidence gathered by the panel does not implicate Trump.
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