By: FRANCE 24 | Video by: Gabrielle Nadler
Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton will testify on Thursday to a congressional committee as part of an investigation into late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Clinton, whose ties if any to Epstein are unclear, will testify behind closed doors despite requesting a public hearing.
Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton is due to testify behind closed doors on Thursday to a congressional committee investigating the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, though it is not clear how much new information will come to light.
Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, has said she has little information to provide and has accused the Republican-led panel of trying to shift focus away from President Donald Trump‘s ties to Epstein, whose death in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges was ruled a suicide.
She and her husband, Democratic former president Bill Clinton, have both called for the full release of the Epstein files and say they are being targeted.
“Get the files out. They are slow-walking it,” the former US secretary of state told the BBC in an interview earlier this month.
The Clintons initially said they wanted to testify publicly and on camera, which was denied.
They agreed to a closed-door hearing with the House of Representatives Oversight Committee when lawmakers moved to hold them in contempt of Congress.
Hillary Clinton is delivering her deposition to the committee in Chappaqua, New York, near the Clintons’ main residence.
Bill Clinton is scheduled to testify on Friday.
Hillary Clinton to testify in US House panel’s Epstein probe: What to expect?
A spokesperson for the Clintons did not respond to a request for comment.
Committee chairman James Comer of Kentucky, a Republican, has said transcripts of their interviews will be made public.
Hillary Clinton’s ties to Epstein are unclear. She has said she never met him but has interacted with Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend and confidant, at conferences and social occasions.
Bill Clinton flew on Epstein’s plane several times in the early 2000s after he left office. He has denied wrongdoing and expressed regret for his association.
According to Comer, Epstein visited the White House 17 times while Clinton was in office.
Trump also socialised extensively with Epstein in the 1990s and 2000s, before his 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor. Comer said evidence gathered by the panel does not implicate Trump.
Trump’s Justice Department has released more than 3 million pages of Epstein-related documents over the past several months to comply with a law passed by Congress.
The Justice Department sought to draw attention to photos of Bill Clinton, but the documents also have revealed Epstein’s ties to a long list of business and political leaders, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
Overseas, they have prompted criminal investigations of Britain’s Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former Duke of York, and other prominent figures.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters and AP)
Source: france24.com