A fiery Hillary Clinton threatens to walk out of Epstein hearing

An angry Hillary Clinton threatened to walk out of a closed-door testimony to US lawmakers about her links to Jeffrey Epstein as her husband Bill denied having knowledge of late financier’s sex crimes.

Hours of video footage was released today of depositions the Clintons made to the Republican-led House Oversight Committee, which is investigating Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. The depositions were held behind closed doors in Chappaqua, New York, where the Clintons live.

“I’m done with this. If you guys are doing that, I am done. You can hold me in contempt from now until the cows come home,” Ms Clinton said before pounding the table with her fist after a photo taken by a Republican lawmaker was released publicly in violation of the rules.

The former secretary of state told the panel that she did not know Epstein, and Mr Clinton said he broke ties with him before the financier’s sex crimes came to light in 2008.

She called for the panel to depose US President Donald Trump about his relations with Epstein

The former US president acknowledged during his testimony that he flew on Epstein’s private plane several times in the early 2000s for Clinton Foundation-related humanitarian work.

“There’s nothing that I saw when I was around him that made me realize he was trafficking women,” he said.

Asked by a committee member whether he ever had sexual contact with any young women or girls introduced to him by Epstein or Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking, Clinton replied: “No.”

Mr Clinton said he never had sexual contact with anyone introduced by Epstein or Maxwell, but did receive a neck massage from a flight attendant later identified as an Epstein abuse survivor

Mr Clinton said he did not know that Epstein had abused girls whom he had recruited as masseuses.

“I didn’t think it was anything unusual. I can’t tell you how many aeroplanes I’ve been on where rich people asked me to go and they had someone offering massage,” he said.

“All these boats that you go on and all that, they all do that. And usually I don’t do that.

“I thought Mr Epstein was an interesting man, but I didn’t think he was really interested in what I was doing.”

The video showed Mr Clinton being asked about a photo in the recently-released Epstein files that shows him in a hot tub with someone else who’s face has been redacted.

“I don’t think I ever knew the photo was taken,” Clinton said, adding that he was sure it was taken in Brunei.

“The Sultan of Brunei was a man I had gotten to know well in my eight years as president,” Mr Clinton said.

“He said, ‘I want you to stay at this hotel and I hope you will use the pool.’ So I did. And then I got out, and went to bed, exhausted,” Clinton said with a laugh.

The former president also recalled a conversation he once had on a golf course with Trump in 2002 or 2003.

“The president never — this is 20 something years ago — never said anything to me to make me think he was involved in anything improper with regard to Epstein either,” Clinton said. “He just didn’t.”

“Somehow he knew I had flown in Jeffrey Epstein’s aircraft.”

He quoted Trump as saying about Epstein: “You know, we had some great times together over the years, but we fell out all because of a real estate deal.”

Mr Clinton said he never visited Epstein’s Caribbean island and did not know that Epstein had visited the White House 17 times during his 1993-2001 presidency.

The Clintons had initially rejected subpoenas ordering them to testify, but the Democratic power couple agreed to do so after House Republicans threatened to hold them in contempt of Congress.

Democrats say the investigation is being weaponized to attack Trump’s political opponents rather than to conduct legitimate oversight.