Hillary Clinton testifies to House panel she 'had no idea' of Epstein's crimes

Hillary Clinton is telling a congressional panel she "had no idea" about Jeffrey Epstein's crimes, as she calls for lawmakers to question President Donald Trump under oath about his past association with the late sex offender.

The ex-US secretary of state is testifying behind closed doors to a US House of Representatives committee investigating Epstein.

Her husband, ex-President Bill Clinton, will give evidence to the oversight panel on Friday.

The couple had resisted the panel's subpoena, dismissing it as politically motivated, before agreeing to testify as potential contempt-of-Congress proceedings loomed against them. The Clintons and Trump deny wrongdoing in relation to Epstein.

Bill Clinton has said he had no knowledge of Epstein's crimes, and that he cut off ties with Epstein two decades ago.

He says their contact arose after he left the presidencyin connection with his charity work, and he has voiced regret that he was ever associated with the financier, who died in a New York City jail in 2019.

Hillary Clinton released a copy on X of her opening statement to Thursday's hearing in Chappaqua, New York, near her home.

"I had no idea about their criminal activities," Clinton said of Epstein and his convicted accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.

The statement added: "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."

She also pressed the House committee in her statement to summon Trump for questioning directly under oath about his name repeatedly showing up in the Epstein files.

The Clintons' names also repeatedly crop up in the Epstein files. There is no suggestion that appearing in the millions of justice department documents relating to the late sex offender implies any wrongdoing.

In an interview with the BBC last week in Berlin, Germany, Hillary Clinton said of her forthcoming Epstein testimony: "We have nothing to hide.

"We have called for the full release of these files repeatedly. We think sunlight is the best disinfectant."

She maintained that she never met Epstein, but did meet Maxwell "on a few occasions". Maxwell attended the wedding of the couple's daughter, Chelsea Clinton, in 2010 in New York.

The couple's announcement in recent weeks that they would provide testimony marked a reversal of their defiant position, and came as a potential contempt vote loomed in the House.

Some Democratic members of the committee voted in favour of initiating contempt proceedings.

The Clintons have previously accused the panel's Republican leader, James Comer, of "partisan politics" in his handling of the investigation. They described the legal summonses as "nothing more than a ploy to attempt to embarrass political rivals, as President Trump has directed".

They insisted they had already provided all the "limited information" they had on Epstein in previously submitted sworn statements.

A spokesperson for Bill Clinton said they would testify and "look forward to setting a precedent that applies to everyone".

For his part, Comer said the effort to secure a deposition from both of the Clintons was a bipartisan move to show that "no-one is above the law".

Speaking at a news conference ahead of Hilary Clinton's deposition on Thursday morning, Comer said: "This isn't a partisan witch hunt.

"I don't think it's any type of being unfair in any way to the Clintons. They've never answered questions, unlike President Trump who gets questioned every day by just about every one of you about his knowledge or involvement with Epstein."

Bill Clinton appears in text and photos that have been released in stages by the Department of Justice in its disclosure of material that was uncovered during federal investigations into Epstein's crimes.

The files more broadly reveal the extent of Epstein's connections with multiple high-profile individuals, including after he was convicted of sex crimes.

Such depositions normally occur behind closed doors, though the Clintons fought for their own testimony to be public so that selective portions of their evidence could not be leaked to the media. However, Thursday's hearing was paused when a lawmaker leaked a photo of Clinton to a conservative influencer.

Both Democratic and Republican members of the committee are expected to address reporters after Hillary Clinton's deposition.

The highly anticipated appearance by Bill Clinton on Friday will be the first time a former US president has testified to a congressional panel since Gerald Ford did so in 1983.