Hillary Clinton testifies she never met Epstein

NEW YORK - Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testified that she has no new information regarding Jeffrey Epstein's criminal activities during a deposition before the House Oversight Committee on Thursday.

Bill and Hillary Clinton's depositions on Thursday and Friday mark the first time a former first couple has appeared before a congressional panel under subpoena.

They cap a months-long standoff with House Republicans that nearly led to the Clintons being held in contempt of Congress.

"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," Hillary Clinton said in her opening statement to lawmakers.

Clinton, who has long maintained that she has little information to offer the panel about Epstein, also told lawmakers that she is "horrified" to learn about Epstein and Maxwell's crimes and that her "heart breaks for the survivors."

"The American people have a lot of questions... The Clintons haven't answered very many, if any, questions about their knowledge or involvement with Epstein and [Ghislaine] Maxwell, " Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) told reporters Thursday morning before the deposition.

Clinton told the panel Thursday that she does not recall ever meeting Epstein, and told the New York Times that she met Maxwell only a few times.

Her name does not appear to have been mentioned in the Justice Department's publicly released Epstein files.

Democrats on the committee came out roughly two hours into the deposition to say that Clinton is being cooperative, and reiterated that she has little new information to share.

The closed-door interview, which will be videotaped, is taking place in Chappaqua, New York, where the Clintons have a house.

The committee is set to depose former President Bill Clinton on Friday. It will be the first time a former president has testified before a congressional panel in over 40 years.

The Clintons have denied any wrongdoing tied to Epstein and have advocated for more transparency over the Epstein files.

President Trump directed the Justice Department to investigate Epstein's connections to Bill Clinton and others.

Bill Clinton's name was featured frequently throughout the millions of Epstein files, and the files included multiple photos of him. He also traveled aboard Epstein's plane during Clinton Foundation trips in the early 2000s, before Epstein was charged with sex crimes. (Source: Axios)