Hillary Clinton lashes out at Trump as she testifies under subpoena
House committee is investigating Jeffrey Epstein’s life, influences, connections
Hillary Clinton, the twice-failed Democrat presidential hopeful, lashed out angrily at President Donald Trump and other Republicans on Thursday as she complied with a U.S. House subpoena and was questioned about her knowledge of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s life, influences, and connections.
Lawmakers planned a long list of questions for her, including about Epstein’s actions as a donor to the foundation set up by Bill and Hillary Clinton. Bill Clinton’s testimony is scheduled to follow Hillary’s.
The grilling, expected to be intense from Democrats as well as Republicans, briefly was interrupted when Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., apparently snapped a photo of the behind-closed-doors questioning.
Members of Congress provided special accommodations to the Clintons, and the questioning is going on at the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center hear the Clintons’ home in Westchester County instead of at the U.S. Capitol.
Clinton, not waiting for questions that loomed, angrily attacked.
She claimed to have “no information” about Epstein’s criminality and does not recall meeting him.
She claimed lawmakers are using her testimony to cover up for President Donald Trump’s “relationship” with Epstein.
“You have compelled me to testify, fully aware that I have no knowledge that would assist your investigation, in order to distract attention from President Trump’s actions and to cover them up despite legitimate calls for answers,” she said in a statement she had prepared.
“If this committee is serious about learning the truth about Epstein’s trafficking crimes, it would not rely on press gaggles to get answers from our current president on his involvement; it would ask him directly under oath about the tens of thousands of times he shows up in the Epstein files.”
Trump’s name appears in the Epstein documents released by investigators, including one episode where he contacted law enforcement and expressed gratitude they were going to stop him. Trump also ordered Epstein thrown out of his Florida club when he became aware of Epstein’s actions with female staff.
A report from the Daily Mail said Hillary Clinton demanded: “If the majority were serious, it would not waste time on fishing expeditions. There is too much that needs to be done. What is being held back? Who is being protected? And why the cover-up?”
The report noted she did get a $20,000 donation from Epstein when she was fundraising a few years ago.
And Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s convicted and jailed associate, attended Chelsea Clinton’s wedding in 2010, years after Epstein had been convicted of sexual abuse.
Bill Clinton, evidence documents, was much more involved with Epstein, traveling multiple times on Epstein’s private jet, including trips to the Virgin Islands, Portugal, Siberia, Japan, and China.
The Clintons are testifying under a threat of being found in contempt of Congress for their earlier refusals.
Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., who heads the House Oversight Committee, said their testimony “is critical to understanding Epstein and Maxwell’s sex trafficking network and the ways they sought to curry favor and influence to shield themselves from scrutiny.”
Hillary Clinton charged, “Mr. Chairman, your investigation is supposed to be assessing the federal government’s handling of the investigations and prosecutions of Epstein and his crimes. You subpoenaed eight law enforcement officials, all of whom ran the Department of Justice or directed the FBI when Epstein’s crimes were investigated and prosecuted. Of those eight, only one appeared before the Committee. Five of the six former attorneys general were allowed to submit brief statements stating they had no information to provide.
“You have held zero public hearings, refused to allow the media to attend them, including today, despite espousing the need for transparency on dozens of occasions. You have made little effort to call the people who show up most prominently in the Epstein files. And when you did, not a single Republican Member showed up for Les Wexner’s deposition.”
She claimed credit for launching “anti-trafficking” programs and charged that Trump has cut them.
Fox News said officials confirmed no one is accusing the Clintons of wrongdoing “at this moment.”
But, Comer said, there are a lot of questions.
