Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has condemned the actions of the Republican-led committee investigating its ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, accusing members of Congress of trying to “protect one political party and one public official.”
Clinton had been subpoenaed to testify before a committee of House members on Thursday.
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But before attending, she released an opening statement online criticizing the U.S. government’s “systemic failure” in “pursuing truth and justice for victims and survivors.”
Ms Clinton’s husband, former US President Bill Clinton, is scheduled to testify before the same committee on Friday. Both are Democrats.
Both men have denied knowing anything about Epstein’s criminal activities and have long said they provided all relevant information to members of the committee.
In her statement, Clinton also accused Republicans of using the hearings to deflect responsibility from President Donald Trump’s administration.
“In order to distract from and cover up President Trump’s actions, you coerced me into testifying, knowing that I had no knowledge that would be helpful to your investigation,” Clinton wrote.
He also questioned why the committee allowed other subpoenaed individuals to respond in writing and why the committee hearings were held in private.
Meanwhile, Ms. Clinton and her husband were threatened with contempt charges after they resisted a subpoena to appear in person.
Epstein’s social circle scrutinized
The dispute centers on a long-running effort to hold accountable those who may have been involved in keeping Epstein from justice.
Epstein was a wealthy financier with connections to influential figures in politics, academia, and the arts. His friends included both Bill Clinton and Trump.
But he was also a convicted sex offender, whose victims experts say number in the hundreds.
In 2008, she was convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor in Florida, but served only 13 months of an 18-month sentence as part of a plea deal that was criticized as too lenient.
In 2019, federal prosecutors indicted Epstein on charges of running a sex trafficking ring, but the 66-year-old died of an apparent suicide while in custody awaiting trial.
Speculation about how his influential social circle supported his crimes continues to grow.
But the scandal has become a thorn in the side of the Trump administration, which faced backlash for its initial resistance to releasing the government’s full Epstein files.
Media reports last year also highlighted elements of Trump’s past relationship with Epstein, including a sexually suggestive birthday note that appeared to be written by the Republican leader.
Clinton said in a statement that if the House committee were to conduct a fair investigation, it would “ask[President Trump]directly under oath about what appears tens of thousands of times in the Epstein file.”
She also cited email exchanges between Epstein and billionaire Elon Musk that the Justice Department released in a trove of documents.
If the commission were “serious,” she wrote, “anyone who asked which nights the ‘wildest parties’ were held on Epstein Island would be subpoenaed.”
“A full-fledged cover-up?”
New details about Epstein and his associates emerged on January 30, when the Justice Department released nearly 3.5 million government documents related to the convicted sex offender.
A law passed in November required the Trump administration to release all Epstein files within 30 days.
But critics continue to accuse the administration of not releasing all investigative files as requested.
The Justice Department announced it would review claims that it illegally withheld documents containing allegations against Trump.
The appearance of a person in a file does not necessarily imply criminal activity. But survivors, sexual violence advocates and some politicians are calling for greater accountability and transparency given the scale and nature of Epstein’s crimes.
Speaking Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called for more action.
“What else is the regime keeping secret? Is this incompetence or a full-blown cover-up?” he said. “Pam Bondi owes the American people some answers.”
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer denied the committee’s investigation was a “witch hunt.”
He told supporters ahead of Thursday’s hearing that there was bipartisan support for the Clintons’ testimony.
Comer also said the government had “failed” Epstein’s victims. The commission added that it could not prosecute those involved, but hoped it would help bring about transparency.
The full transcript and video of Clinton’s hearing, expected to last several hours, will be released “as soon as everyone approves,” Comer said.
Ahead of the hearing, the committee’s ranking Democrat, Robert Garcia, called on Trump himself to testify “to answer questions that are being asked by survivors across this country.”
