Hillary Clinton sat down Thursday before congressional lawmakers in a closed-door deposition tied to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, answering questions at the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center near the Clintons’ home in Westchester County, New York.
The session was not held on Capitol Hill but rather at the local performing arts center, a logistical arrangement that brought the congressional proceeding into the heart of Clinton’s home county.
Clinton stated under oath that she had no personal relationship with the convicted sex trafficker.
“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,” she told reporters following the testimony.
Lawmakers questioned Clinton not only about Epstein but also about UFOs and an online theory known as Pizzagate, which alleged that a pedophile ring involving senior Democratic Party officials was being run out of the basement of a Washington, D.C. pizza restaurant.
Clinton addressed those questions publicly after the deposition concluded.
“It then got, at the end, quite unusual because I started being asked about UFOs and a series of questions about Pizza-gate, one of the most vile bogus conspiracy theories that was propagated on the internet,” she said.
The session was thrown into disorder almost immediately after it opened when Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, 39, photographed Clinton in violation of confidentiality rules governing the private proceeding.
Clinton’s legal team moved to halt the deposition after the photograph began circulating across social media platforms. A spokesman for Clinton told the Daily Mail: “It’s against chamber rules that were read at the top of the meeting.”
“So the hearing has been paused briefly while they figure out where the photo came from and why, possibly, members of Congress are violating House rules.”
The hearing resumed within approximately one hour of being paused. Clinton later requested that House Oversight Chairman James Comer allow members of the press to observe the proceeding following Boebert’s disclosure. Comer denied the request.
Although the deposition was being filmed, any footage is subject to review by Clinton’s attorneys before it can be made public.
In her opening statement prior to the photograph incident, Clinton accused Republican lawmakers of compelling her testimony to deflect from scrutiny of President Donald Trump’s documented ties to Epstein.
“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.
Clinton also directed attention toward Trump’s presence in the Epstein documents released by the Department of Justice in January, stating: “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.”
WATCH:
Former President Bill Clinton is scheduled to testify Friday at the same Westchester venue, becoming the first former president compelled to testify before a congressional investigation.
