Washington — Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accused the Trump administration of a “persevering with cover-up” over its dealing with of the discharge of information associated to the late convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“There’s one thing about this administration’s angle towards this, which I believe actually leads us to conclude they’ve one thing to cover,” Hillary Clinton informed the BBC in an interview launched Tuesday. “We do not. We’ve got been keen to say no matter we all know. We have even accomplished it below oath.”
Hillary Clinton is set to look earlier than the Home Oversight Committee on Feb. 26 for a deposition as a part of its Epstein investigation. Former President Invoice Clinton is scheduled to be deposed the subsequent day. Neither has been accused of wrongdoing.
Their appearances earlier than lawmakers, which is able to occur behind closed doorways, come after a monthslong back-and-forth that led the committee to advocate holding the Clintons in felony contempt of Congress for failing to look below subpoena. The total Home was on the verge of voting on the contempt decision, which was anticipated to move with bipartisan help, when the Clintons agreed to the committee’s phrases to look.
However the Clintons have pushed for the testimony to happen in public. Home Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, has stated that could be a risk after the personal depositions.
“We are going to present up, however we expect it could be higher to have it in public,” Hillary Clinton informed the BBC.
The Clintons submitted sworn declarations in January describing their interactions with Epstein and his affiliate Ghislaine Maxwell, who’s serving a jail sentence on intercourse trafficking expenses.
Hillary Clinton reiterated within the BBC interview that she would not keep in mind ever assembly Epstein and that her husband’s affiliation with him was associated to the Clinton Basis’s philanthropic work. Invoice Clinton has stated Epstein provided his personal airplane to him, his workers and his Secret Service element in help of his charity work between 2002 and 2003, and that he had not been involved with Epstein for greater than a decade earlier than his 2019 arrest.
“We’ve got no hyperlinks. We’ve got a really clear report that we have been keen to speak about, which my husband has stated he took some rides on the airplane for his charitable work. I do not recall ever assembly him,” Hillary Clinton stated.
Hillary Clinton stated she met Maxwell “on a couple of events” by way of the Clinton Basis.
The couple’s data of Epstein and Maxwell is “very restricted and completely unrelated to their habits or their crimes,” Hillary Clinton stated.
The previous secretary of state accused Comer of forcing them to look for depositions “to guard” President Trump, who can also be talked about within the Epstein information and has denied any wrongdoing. She famous that different former officers subpoenaed within the inquiry haven’t been compelled to testify.
“We’ve got nothing to cover. We’ve got known as for the total launch of those information repeatedly,” she stated. “Get the information out. They’re slow-walking it. They’re redacting the names of males who’re in it. They’re stonewalling professional requests from members of Congress. That has nothing to do with us. One thing is occurring. They comprehend it. I do know it.”
She stated lawmakers will not “like what I’ve to say” if the committee follows by way of with the personal deposition.
“I’ve very robust opinions about what it’s they’re hiding and who they’re defending,” she stated. “Why do they need to pull us into this? To divert consideration from President Trump. This isn’t sophisticated.”
Requested Monday about his response to Hillary Clinton’s allegation that they’re getting used as a diversion, Mr. Trump informed reporters, “I’ve nothing to cover.”
“I’ve nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein,” Mr. Trump stated.
