Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton testified before a congressional committee on Thursday as part of its investigation into late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, while Democrats called for President Donald Trump to face similar scrutiny.
The 2016 Democratic presidential nominee's testimony comes as fallout from the Epstein scandal expands globally, and as the US Department of Justice refuses to further investigate Americans named in the files.
Earlier in the day, Norway's former foreign minister Borge Brende, the World Economic Forum's president and chief executive, announced his resignation after his ties to Epstein were revealed in files that the US Congress forced the Justice Department to release.
Ms Clinton's husband, former president Bill Clinton, who appears in the files and who flew on Epstein’s private plane before the financier had been convicted, is expected to testify on Friday as part of the same House oversight committee's inquiry.
Republicans say they are quizzing the Clintons because they want to learn more about interactions they may have had with Epstein, who died in jail in 2019 under disputed circumstances after he was accused of trafficking children for sex.
The Clintons are not accused of wrongdoing, and being named in the Epstein files does not necessarily mean anything criminal occurred.
“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,” Ms Clinton said in a statement, which she released as she delivered a closed-door deposition to the House oversight committee in Chappaqua, New York.
Thursday's hearing was briefly paused after a photo of Ms Clinton testifying appeared on social media, in a breach of committee rules, according to Clinton adviser Nick Merrill.
Conservative influencer Benny Johnson, who published the photo, said it was taken by Republican Representative Lauren Boebert.
Ms Clinton also accused the Republican-led panel of trying to shift focus away from Mr Trump's ties to Epstein. She criticised the panel for wasting time on “fishing expeditions” and stressed that Mr Trump should answer questions under oath.
“Instead, you have compelled me to testify, fully aware that I have no knowledge that would assist your investigation, in order to distract attention from President Trump’s actions and to cover them up despite legitimate calls for answers,” she said in the statement.
Mr Trump is named thousands of times in the Epstein files. Many of the references come in shared news articles or other public stories in which he is mentioned.
The Epstein scandal has swept through Europe, leading to the arrests or resignations of top names including Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and disgraced Labour politician Peter Mandelson.
In the US, Republicans are trying to highlight the Democrats named in the files even as public attention remains largely focused on Epstein's ties to Mr Trump and his associates, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and former senior adviser Steve Bannon.
Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the committee, told reporters that Mr Trump and Mr Lutnick should also testify. Mr Lutnick has admitted to visiting Epstein's private island years after he says he broke off ties.
Before Thursday's hearing, oversight committee chairman James Comer of Kentucky, a Republican, denied that the inquiry was a partisan effort against Mr Trump's 2016 presidential rival, noting that several Democrats had pushed for the Clintons to testify. He said it was “very possible” Mr Lutnick would be questioned by the committee.
“No one is accusing at this moment the Clintons of any wrongdoing,” Mr Comer said.
He said Epstein visited the White House 17 times while Mr Clinton was in office. Mr Trump socialised extensively with Epstein in the 1990s and early 2000s.
The Justice Department has released more than three million pages of Epstein-related documents over the past several months to comply with a law passed by Congress. Some of the files mentioning allegations against Mr Trump are reportedly missing.
