From a leaked photo to questions on UFOs: key points from Hillary Clinton’s Epstein testimony

1. ‘Who is being protected?’

Clinton heavily criticised the House of Representatives’ oversight committee – and its Republican majority – in her opening statement.

The proceedings were not designed to seek truth and justice for the victims and survivors of Epstein’s crimes, she argued.

“I don’t know how many times I had to say I did not know Jeffrey Epstein,” Clinton told reporters after her deposition. “I never went to his island. I never went to his homes. I never went to his offices.

“If the majority was serious, it would not waste time on fishing expeditions. There is too much that needs to be done. What is being held back? Who is being protected? And why the cover-up?” she said.

2. ‘I started being asked about UFOs’

The questions were “repetitive”, according to Clinton. “They asked literally the same questions over and over again, which didn’t seem to me to be very productive.”

Late into the session, questions are said to have veered off course. “It got quite unusual,” Clinton told reporters, “because I started being asked about UFOs and a series of questions about Pizzagate, one of the most vile bogus conspiracy theories”.

Clinton was referring to false, widely disseminated musings in 2016 that a Washington DC pizzeria was a front for a child sex ring run by her, and that New York City police had discovered a paedophilia ring linked to Democrats.

3. Session briefly derailed by leaked photo

The deposition of Clinton was interrupted when Lauren Boebert, a Republican member of the committee, leaked a photo from the room. Conservative influencer Benny Johnson published the image on social media platform X stating that Clinton “does not look happy”.

The hearing was temporarily suspended at the request of Clinton’s legal team. It is against the rules for witnesses or lawmakers to take pictures during closed-door congressional hearings.

“We had agreed upon rules, based on the fact it was going to be a closed hearing, at their demand,” Clinton said after the session. “And one of the members violated that rule, which was very upsetting, because it suggested that they might violate other of our agreements.”

Clinton had pushed for Republicans to hold a public hearing.

4. ‘Ask him directly under oath about the tens of thousands of times he shows up in the Epstein files’

Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the committee, told reporters that Trump and his commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, should testify over their ties with Epstein.

Lutnick has admitted to visiting Epstein’s private island years after he initially said that he had broken off ties.

Trump’s relationship with Epstein has proven to be a political landmine for the president, who has consistently denied wrongdoing.

They were once friends, but Trump has claimed that he booted Epstein from his Mar-a-Lago club because the late financier “stole” staffers.

Clinton said: “If this committee is serious about learning the truth about Epstein’s trafficking crimes, it would not rely on press gaggles to get answers from our current president on his involvement. It would ask him directly under oath about the tens of thousands of times he shows up in the Epstein files.”

Oversight committee chair James Comer, a Republican, said it was “possible” the committee might subpoena Lutnick, but dismissed the idea of having Trump appear before the panel.

“President Trump has answered hundreds if not thousands of questions from you all about Epstein and I think he’s been very transparent in releasing the documents,” Comer told reporters.

5. Clinton confident her husband knew nothing about Epstein’s crimes

Bill Clinton is due to be deposed by the committee on Friday, amid questions over his former relationship with Epstein. Clinton, like a bevy of other high-powered men, including Trump, had a well-documented social relationship with Epstein in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Asked by a reporter on Thursday if she was “100% confident” her husband was unaware of Epstein’s crimes when he spent time with him before the late sex offender’s first arrest, Hillary Clinton responded: “I am, and I think the chronology of the connection that he had with … Epstein ended years, several years before anything about Epstein’s criminal activities came to light.”

While the Clintons are appearing in closed-door sessions, transcripts and video of both their sessions are expected to be made public.