Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are finally providing testimony regarding Jeffrey Epstein this week. Members of the House Oversight Committee have been trying to get the couple to testify for months.
Audacy reported last October that the committee had subpoenaed the Clintons to appear before them, regarding Epstein. However, the Clintons had pushed back their dates. That was after the committee released the contents of a 2003 “birthday book” assembled for Epstein that appeared to include entries from both former President Clinton and current President Donald Trump.
“We worked for six months to get the Clintons to come in,” House Oversight Chairman Rep. James Comey (R-Ky.) told reporters Thursday, ahead of Hillary appearing before the committee. Bill is expected to testify Friday.
Epstein, a financier who worked at Bear Stearns in the early 1980s, managed to make connections with multiple wealthy and powerful people before his 2019 death in a Manhattan jail cell. He was convicted of sex crimes in 2008 and was facing sex trafficking charges when he died.
Lawmakers demanded that the U.S. Department of Justice release all files related to the Epstein case late last year. Millions of files had been released as of this January. However, there have been issues with redactions and some files seem to have been withheld or pulled, per reports. One report this week from NPR said that files including information about sex abuse allegations against Trump have been withheld.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and his Democratic colleagues discussed Epstein file release issues with reporters Thursday.
As for the Clintons, USA Today noted that Hillary Clinton’s name appears more than 700 times in the Epstein documents, but that those mentions are mostly in articles shared with Epstein about her presidential campaign. She won the popular vote that year but lost the election to Trump via the electoral college.
However, she has also faced scrutiny over British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, an associate of Epstein who is now serving a 20-year sentence for aiding him in sex trafficking of minors. Maxwell was pictured at the wedding of the Clinton’s daughter, Chelsea. She was also in attendance at a 2013 Clinton Global Initiative conference.
Hillary said in a BBC interview that Maxwell was among “thousands of people [that] go to the Clinton Global Initiative.”
Bill Clinton’s name “appears in flight logs from 2002 and 2003 that document travel with Epstein to destinations including Thailand, Portugal, Ghana, Russia and China,” USA Today noted.
According to the Associated Press, Hillary said her husband flew with Epstein for charitable trips. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who has appeared in the Epstein files as well, also said that his dealings with Epstein were related to charity.
“The Committee justified its subpoena to me based on its assumption that I have information regarding the investigations into the criminal activities of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Let me be as clear as I can. I do not,” said the former secretary of state in an opening statement she shared on X.
She added that she “never flew on his plane or visited his island, homes or offices.”
Furthermore, she said she was “horrified” by the information that has recently been released about Epstein’s crimes and noted her long history advocating for sex trafficking victims. Hillary also criticized the Trump administration for nixing a program that aided sex trafficking victims and the Republican-controlled committee for allowing other people it subpoenaed to submit brief statements instead of providing testimony.
“You have compelled me to testify, fully aware that I have no knowledge that would assist you in your investigation, in order to distract from President Trump’s actions and to cover them up despite legitimate calls for answers,” she said.
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), ranking member of the oversight committee, said that they want to question anyone who might have any information that could aid in the Epstein investigation – even the Clintons.
“We will talk to any single person,” he said. Garcia also slammed the Trump administration, and accused the DOJ of participating in a “White House cover up.”
POLITICO reported that Hillary’s “closed-door testimony,” at the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center in the New York town where the Clintons live was delayed after a social media post from “right-wing political commentator and provocateur Benny Johnson” that included a photo of the proceedings. Per the outlet, Johnson obtained the photo from Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.).
When Bill Clinton testifies Friday, it “will be the first time that a former president has been forced to testify before Congress,” according to the Associated Press. It also noted that “conspiracy theories, especially on the right, have swirled for years around the Clintons and their connections to Epstein and Maxwell.”
Comer told reporters that the testimony videos will be made public after a review by attorneys.
“The American people have a lot of questions,” Comer said. He noted that the Clintons have not been accused of any wrongdoing.
Comer added: “The purpose of the whole investigation is to try to understand many things about Epstein. How did he accumulate so much wealth? How was he able to surround himself with some of the most powerful men in the world? Was he an asset for our government or any other government?”