Epstein case, Hillary Clinton accuses Trump of cover-up
In an interview with the BBC, the former secretary of state accuses the White House of slowing down the release of documents and calls for full transparency. Trump rejects the accusations and vindicates the work of the Justice Department
Hillary Clinton accused US President Donald Trump's administration of burying part of the documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, speaking openly about "cover-up" during an interview with the BBC in Berlin, where she was attending the annual World Forum. The former secretary of state urged the full publication of the files, arguing that the release is proceeding too slowly. The White House has rejected the accusations, saying it has done more for the victims than the Democrats by making thousands of pages public.
At the centre of the affair are documents relating to the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, who died on 10 August 2019 in a New York jail cell while awaiting trial for child sex trafficking, without the possibility of bail. In January, the US Department of Justice released millions of new documents after Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The department claimed to have released all the material required by law, but several parliamentarians consider the release incomplete.
Among them was the Republican Congressman from Kentucky Thomas Massie, co-author of the rule, who also called for the publication of internal memos on past decisions regarding the possible indictment of Epstein and his associates. The handling of the files has become a political battleground, with cross accusations between Republicans and Democrats. Hillary Clinton reiterated that 'sunlight is the best disinfectant' and demanded that everything be made public. She also claimed that she and her husband would be used as a 'red herring' to divert attention away from Trump.
Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton will appear before the House Oversight Committee as part of the investigation. The former president is expected to appear on 27 February and the former secretary of state the day before. The vote to hold them in contempt of Congress, after their initial refusal to appear, was later shelved when the pair agreed to testify. This will be the first time a former US president has testified before a congressional committee since Gerald Ford in 1983.
Bill Clinton is mentioned several times in the files and was in contact with Epstein, but stated that he broke off all contact about 20 years ago. Neither spouse has been accused of wrongdoing by the victims in the case and they have always denied any knowledge of the billionaire's criminal activities at the time. The Clintons requested that the hearing be held in public and not behind closed doors, to ensure transparency and equal treatment. 'We have nothing to hide,' Hillary Clinton stated.
