Hillary Clinton says she answered every question on Epstein and decries GOP for keeping deposition private

Chappaqua, New York
 — 

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton defiantly confronted lawmakers Thursday who sought to question her about her household’s previous ties to Jeffrey Epstein, insisting that she had no details about the late convicted intercourse offender’s legal actions and blasting Republicans for conducting the interview in private.

Emerging after six-and-a-half hours with House Oversight Committee lawmakers behind closed doorways, Clinton stated she had “answered every one of their questions as fully as I could based on what I knew.” She confused she had by no means met Epstein nor had communications with him.

“I don’t know how many times I had to say, ‘I did not know Jeffrey Epstein,’” she advised reporters.

Clinton stated she knew Ghislaine Maxwell – who was convicted in reference to Epstein’s crimes – “casually as an acquaintance,” and that Maxwell “came as the plus one, the guest, of someone who was invited” to her daughter Chelsea Clinton’s 2010 wedding ceremony.

And the previous secretary of state criticized the GOP for having “refused to hold a public hearing,” forcing her to explain what had occurred for members of the media afterward.

The deposition – which occurred in New York, close to the place Hillary Clinton lives with former President Bill Clinton – is likely one of the highest-profile interviews but within the Republican-led committee’s investigation into Epstein. It comes after each Clintons vigorously resisted testifying in what they denounced as a Republican plot towards them, solely to reverse course when confronted with the prospect of being held in legal contempt of Congress. Bill Clinton is about to testify Friday.

From its starting, the deposition was a rancorous, partisan affair. In her opening assertion, Clinton requested lawmakers why the Republican-led committee had not questioned others with ties to Epstein, together with President Donald Trump. Later, the proceedings needed to be paused briefly after conservative podcaster Benny Johnson posted a photo from the continuing interview on X – which Democrats asserted was a violation of House guidelines. The picture, Johnson stated, was supplied by Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert.

“I admired her blue suit,” the congresswoman quipped to reporters throughout a break within the continuing.

Speaking to reporters throughout that break, Democrats blasted Republicans over the episode and referred to as for members of the media to be allowed within the deposition room.

“We are sitting through an incredibly unserious clown show of a deposition where members of Congress and the Republican Party are more concerned about getting their photo op of Secretary Clinton than actually getting to the truth and holding anyone accountable,” Arizona Democratic Rep. Yassamin Ansari stated.

Clinton referred to as the incident “very upsetting.”

While the deposition was not performed publicly, Rep. James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, stated he would attempt to launch video of it throughout the subsequent 24 hours. The Kentucky Republican stated the dialogue was “productive” and that he “learned a lot,” however that Hillary Clinton continuously referred inquiries to her husband, saying, “I don’t know, you’ll have to ask my husband” greater than a dozen occasions.

“We have a lot of questions for her husband tomorrow,” Comer stated.

Asked by NCS whether or not she was assured her husband had no information of Epstein’s crimes, Hillary Clinton responded, “I am.” That relationship, she stated, “ended several years before anything about Epstein’s criminal activities came to light.”

Rep. Robert Garcia, the highest Democrat on the committee, stated Clinton was “completely cooperating with the deposition and the committee, and is answering questions in full faith and in good faith.” He declined to offer specifics, imploring Republicans to shortly launch the total video of the deposition.

Republicans have insisted the Clintons’ testimony is significant to their probe, and famous that neither Bill nor Hillary had answered detailed inquiries about their ties to Epstein.

“It is a bipartisan investigation. The American people have a lot of questions. To my knowledge, the Clintons haven’t answered very many if any questions about their knowledge or involvement with Epstein and Maxwell,” Comer stated.

Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina stated at a press briefing after the deposition that Clinton “took every question from every single member.” During the interview, she requested Clinton numerous questions on her husband, together with whether or not the previous first woman had any emotions about younger girls massaging him, in keeping with a supply who watched the deposition. Clinton responded she wouldn’t speculate about occasions for which she was not current and was not there to debate emotions.

Bill Clinton has by no means been accused by regulation enforcement of any wrongdoing associated to Epstein, and a spokesperson has repeatedly stated he reduce ties earlier than Epstein’s arrest on federal fees in 2019 and was unaware of any crimes.

A NCS overview confirmed the previous president traveled on Epstein’s private aircraft a minimum of 16 occasions, and he was pictured in Epstein case information launched by the Justice Department with girls in a jacuzzi, in addition to with Maxwell.

Hillary Clinton was accompanied Thursday by her attorneys, who’ve been working by painstaking particulars of what areas may very well be coated throughout questioning.

Even the placement for the depositions, the Clintons’ hometown of Chappaqua, was negotiated between Clinton lawyer David Kendall and Comer in hopes of avoiding the indignity and precedent-setting transfer of summoning a former president to Capitol Hill for questioning.

The former first woman arrived out of direct sight of the gaggle of reporters who had gathered in entrance of the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center. But the 2 pictures of Clinton flanked by her attorneys that surfaced on social media throughout the continuing briefly floor the deposition to a halt, with Democratic lawmakers accusing their Republican colleagues of breaking their very own guidelines.

The Clintons and members of the House Oversight Committee agreed to 5 matter areas for the depositions, an individual acquainted with the settlement advised NCS. They have been:

Survivors of Epstein’s abuse and attorneys representing them advised NCS that they consider it is crucial for the Clintons, and particularly the previous president, to testify. In interviews, they confused that the presence of a person within the Epstein information and their cooperation with Congress doesn’t point out wrongdoing.

Hillary Clinton stated that towards the tip of the listening to, GOP lawmakers inquired about UFOs and “Pizzagate,” a conspiracy principle that gained traction within the closing days earlier than the 2016 US presidential election that centered on a pedophilia ring supposedly being run out of a Washington, DC, pizza store.

The questioning, she stated, was “quite unusual.”

This headline and story have been up to date with further developments.