Hillary Clinton, former US Secretary of State, claimed on February 26 (local time) that she has no recollection of ever meeting the late Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender of minors.
On this day, in a closed and recorded deposition before the House Oversight Committee held at a performing arts center near her residence in New York, she stated, "I have absolutely no memory of meeting Epstein. I have never flown on his private jet, nor have I visited his island, home, or office," according to her official statement.
In her opening remarks, released via X (formerly Twitter), Clinton said, "I have no knowledge that would be helpful to your investigation," and added, "Despite knowing this, you forced me to testify in an attempt to distract from President Trump's actions and to cover them up, even when legitimate explanations were demanded."
Clinton emphasized, "If this committee is genuinely interested in uncovering the truth about Epstein's human trafficking crimes, it should directly question him under oath about the numerous issues that appear tens of thousands of times in the Epstein files, rather than relying on impromptu exchanges with the media regarding the involvement of the sitting president."
After the questioning, Clinton told reporters that she was asked the same questions repeatedly throughout the day. She explained that as the session went on, "the situation became quite strange," because she began receiving questions about unidentified flying objects (UFOs), as well as a series of questions regarding 'Pizzagate,' one of the most vicious conspiracy theories. She did not reveal who asked those questions.
It is unusual for a former presidential couple to be summoned to testify before a congressional investigation. The Democratic Party and Clinton's aides believe that this summons is intended by President Donald Trump to embarrass Hillary, who previously competed against him in the presidential election.
She criticized the Republican-led committee for attempting to shift the focus away from the relationship between President Trump and Epstein. She also pointed out that the Trump administration had "effectively crippled" the State Department office responsible for international sex trafficking issues.
In addition, Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton, is also scheduled to testify before the House Oversight Committee. Regarding this, Clinton stated that the "majority" of people who had contact with Epstein before his 2008 guilty plea did "not know" about the sex trafficking and human trafficking. She added, "That is what he will testify to tomorrow."
Epstein-related documents, some of which were released in December last year, included images of former President Clinton swimming with Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's former girlfriend and convicted accomplice, as well as sitting with his arm around the waist of an unidentified woman.
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