‘I had no idea…’: Hillary Clinton testifies on Jeffrey Epstein links, calls for Donald Trump to speak on his connections

Former United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday, February 26, appeared before a Republican-led House panel to testify on her alleged links with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. While she denied knowing or meeting Jeffrey Epstein, she also called on President Donald Trump to testify about his own connections to the convicted financier.

Hillary Clinton told the congressional committee she had no information about Epstein's crimes, never recalled encountering him, and had never visited his island or flown on his plane, accusing the panel of trying to “protect one public official”.

In her opening statement, Hillary Clinton said that she was horrief when she learned about crimes of Epstein. “It is unfathomable that Mr Epstein initially got a slap on the wrist in 2008 which allowed him to continue his predatory practices for another decade.”

“As I stated in my sworn declaration on January 13, I had no idea about their criminal activities. I do not recall ever encountering Mr Epstein. I never flew on his plane or visited his island, homes or offices. I have nothing to add to that,” she said.

James Comer, who chairs the committee that will also grill former president Bill Clinton on Friday, February 27, said “the purpose of the whole investigations to try to understand many things about Epstein”.

What Hillary said in her statement?

Attacking the committee and President Trump, Hillary Clinton said, “This institutional failure is designed to protect one political party and one public official, rather than to seek truth and justice for the victims and survivors, as well as the public who also want to get to the bottom of this matter. My heart breaks for the survivors. And I am furious on their behalf.”

“Jeffrey Epstein was a heinous individual, but he's far from alone. This is not a one-off tabloid sensation or a political scandal. It's a global scourge with an unimaginable human toll,” she said.

Slamming the Trump administration further, Hillary Clinton said, “…the Trump Administration gutted the Trafficking in Persons Office at the State Department, cutting more than 70 percent of the career civil and foreign service experts who worked so hard to prevent trafficking crimes. The annual trafficking report, required by law, was delayed for months.” Also Read | Epstein Files: Who were those two women in Stephen Hawking's photo? Scientist's family reveals

“The message from the Trump Administration to the American people and the world could not be clearer: combatting human trafficking is no longer an American priority under the Trump White House,” she said.

Hillary Clinton further challenged the House panel saying “if this committee is serious about learning the truth about Epstein's trafficking crimes... it would ask him [Trump] directly under oath about the tens of thousands of times he shows up in the Epstein files.”