Get you up to speed: Hillary Clinton Defends Against Epstein Questions, Links to UFOs and Pizzagate
HOUSE OVERSIGHT TESTIMONY
Hillary Clinton criticized the US House Oversight Committee for its questioning during her deposition regarding Jeffrey Epstein, emphasizing a perceived lack of seriousness and focus.
HOUSE OVERSIGHT
Hillary Clinton told reporters the House Oversight Committee’s questioning was unproductive and merely a distraction from President Trump‘s alleged actions, according to witnesses at her deposition.
DEPOSITION STATUS
Hillary Clinton was compelled to testify before the US House Oversight Committee, marking the first time a former president’s spouse will also testify this Friday.
What we know so far
Hillary Clinton has denied knowledge about Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes and attacked US politicians for their line of questioning.
The former US secretary of state was compelled to appear before the US House Oversight Committee in New York and asked about the disgraced financier.
After the deposition, she told reporters: “I thought it was very repetitive… they asked literally the same questions over and over again, which didn’t seem to me to be very productive.
“I did not know Jeffrey Epstein. I never went to his island. I never went to his homes. I never went to his offices.”
She then added that the questions became more bizarre and “off subject”.
She said: “It then got, at the end, quite unusual, because I started being asked about UFOs and a series of questions about Pizzagate, one of the most vile, bogus conspiracy theories that was propagated on the internet.”
Pizzagate was a conspiracy theory used to smear Clinton when she ran as the Democrat candidate at the 2016 US election.
The long-debunked theory alleged high-profile Democrats ran a paedophile abuse ring from a Washington pizza restaurant.
At one point, Ms Clinton’s testimony in New York was suspended after a photograph of her at the committee was published on social media, violating the rules for depositions.
The image was posted on X by Benny Johnson, a right-wing political commentator and YouTuber, claiming it was provided to him by Republican representative Lauren Boebert.
Sky News’s US correspondent James Matthews said Ms Clinton made a “blistering attack” on the oversight committee, which she accused of “partisan political theatre” and “alleging a cover-up to protect Donald Trump”.
In an opening statement, which she shared on social media, she said the committee “run by elected officials with a commitment to transparency would ensure the full release of all the files… if it wanted to get to the bottom of reports that DoJ [Department of Justice] withheld FBI interviews in which a survivor accuses President Trump of heinous crimes”.
She claimed she was being compelled to testify “to distract attention from President Trump’s actions”.
Democrats claim material from the Epstein files was withheld, including records of a woman who accused the president of sexually abusing her when she was a child. Mr Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
Ms Clinton said Epstein was a “heinous individual” but is “far from alone”, calling the crimes he committed a “global scourge with an unimaginable human toll”.
Meanwhile, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee have been backing Ms Clinton, and criticised the leak of a photo from inside the deposition.
Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari described the deposition as an “incredibly unserious clown show”.
Fellow Democrat Robert Garcia also spoke to call for President Trump to testify: “We want to understand right now where the missing FBI files are.
“These are files that accuse the president of the United States about serious, serious accusations around sexual abuse,” he said.
Donald Trump has denied all accusations of wrongdoing, saying the Epstein files exonerated him.
Hillary Clinton, and her husband Bill, agreed to appear before the committee after their offers of sworn statements were rejected by the House Oversight panel.
Mr Clinton’s testimony on Friday will be the first time a former president has been forced to testify before Congress.
A close friend and former aide of the Clintons has told Sky News that Republicans have “created a trap” for Donald Trump by enforcing a summons on Bill Clinton to testify about Jeffrey Epstein.
Sidney Blumenthal said the Democrats will surely respond by forcing Mr Trump to testify himself “if and when” they take control of Congress.
He says cabinet members such as Howard Lutnick, commerce secretary, and Pam Bondi, attorney general, could also be called to testify, as could Melania Trump over her previous relationship with Epstein co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell.