Hillary Clinton said at a press conference following her House Oversight Committee deposition that she never met Jeffrey Epstein, denied any ties to him, and knew Ghislaine Maxwell only casually, while criticizing the closed-door hearing and calling parts of the questioning “repetitive” and “unusual.” Tomorrow, former President Bill Clinton will be deposed.

FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY CLINTON: Based on what I knew, and what I knew is what I said in my statement this morning. I never met Jeffrey Epstein, never had any connection or communication with him. I knew Ghislaine Maxwell casually as an acquaintance. But whatever they asked me, I did my very best to respond. It was disappointing that they refused to hold a public hearing. So I wouldn’t have to be out here characterizing it for you. You could have seen it for yourself. We had asked for that. We think it would have been better for the committee and its efforts to gather whatever information they are seeking. We had a bit of a challenge in the beginning because we had agreed upon rules based on the fact it was going to be a closed hearing at their demand. And one of the members violated that rule, which was very upsetting because it suggested that they might violate other of our agreements. So we had to cease the hearing for a period of time until we could get assurances that no rules would be broken going forward. And we returned to answer questions repetitively, literally, over and over again. I don’t know how many times I had to say I did not know Jeffrey Epstein. I never went to his island. I never went to his homes. I never went to his offices. So it’s on the record numerous times. It then got, at the end, quite unusual because I started being asked about UFOs and a series of questions about Pizzagate, one of the most vile, bogus conspiracy theories that was propagated on the Internet that was serving as a basis of a member’s questions to me. So I can only say that the best exchange that I had came at the very end when, contrary to every other deposition they have taken, no Republican member asked any questions about Jeffrey Epstein or Ghislaine Maxwell to anyone else they have deposed. And, in fact, the Republican members didn’t even show up for the deposition of Les Wexner. And when I said that, I had to point out that the only questions that any Republican member asked of any of the people they deposed was of former Attorney General Bill Barr when Chairman Comer asked him about the allegations, in his view, about Russia’s involvement in my election in 2016. So at the very end of this hearing, after I made that point, I want to commend Chairman Comer for raising a series of significant questions that I responded to about the nature of the investigation and the areas that I thought should be explored. So I appreciated that. I want to see the truth come out. So that was a reassuring way to end a very long, repetitive deposition. REPORTER: Madam Secretary, you spoke in your opening remarks about how heartbroken you have been for the Epstein survivors as these files have come out. Can you talk to us a little bit about how you have processed and reacted to the fact that the former president, your husband Bill Clinton, is referenced in the Epstein files numerous times, including in some photos featuring women? And how have you been personally preparing for the deposition that is coming tomorrow? Are you 100 percent confident that there isn’t anything that the former president knows about Epstein’s crimes? CLINTON: I am, and I think the chronology of the connection that he had with Epstein ended several years before anything about Epstein’s criminal activities came to light and that he was charged and sadly given a sweetheart deal, which as I said in my statement, had that not happened, perhaps his predatory behavior could have been stopped earlier. But I think it is fair to say that the vast majority of people who had contact with him before his criminal pleas in 2008 were like most people. They did not know what he was doing. And I think that that is exactly what my husband will testify to tomorrow. REPORTER: Madam Secretary, do you believe that this was a fair hearing? And do you still want to testify publicly even though you made this deposition? CLINTON: Well, I’m not going to do it again. You know, they had a chance to do it in public, and I wish they had done it in public. And I think they’re making the wrong decision avoiding doing it in public. I thought it was very repetitive. I thought that they asked literally the same questions over and over again, which didn’t seem to me to be very productive. And then as I said toward the end, you know, there were other questions that were totally off subject. So if they are going to fulfill their responsibilities to literally investigate the investigations, which is what they originally said was the scope of their work, I think they could have spent the day more productively. REPORTER: Madam Secretary, can I ask? James Matthews from Sky News. Can I ask, why was Colleen Maxwell, the daughter of Chelsea Clinton’s wedding in 2010, she’d already been mentioned in a civil lawsuit by Virginia Giuffre before that. Jeffrey Epstein had already been convicted before that. CLINTON: She came as the plus one, the guest of someone who was invited. Thank you, everybody. Thank you all… I don’t know when the transcript will be out. We’ve asked that they be out as quickly as possible, and then you can see everything.

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