00:01Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is this Thursday due to testify to a congressional
00:06committee investigating the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a day before former U.S. President
00:12Bill Clinton, her husband, is set to do the same. The grilling is being held behind closed
00:17doors, but footage of her testimony is expected to be released after the fact. For more, we
00:22can cross now to our New York correspondent Jessica Lemazurier. Jessica, as I mentioned
00:27just there, this hearing is happening behind closed doors. What is it that this hearing
00:31wants to ascertain from Bill and Hillary Clinton?
00:38Well, there are going to be a lot of questions about their dealings with Jeffrey Epstein and
00:43Ghislaine Maxwell. We have Hillary Clinton appearing via video link from the Clintons' home in
00:49Chappaqua in Westchester County, New York, this Thursday, and then her husband Bill Clinton
00:55doing the same via video link from their home on Friday. Now, it must be made clear that
01:04the Clintons are not accused of any wrongdoing. There are just going to be an awful lot of
01:10questions about their dealings with the late sex offender as part of this probe into all
01:17of the high profile people who had alleged dealings with him. Now, perhaps the most damning stuff
01:23is all related to Bill Clinton because there are photos of him in these files. One that
01:30has got the most attention, perhaps, of him in a hot tub, apparently, with a young woman
01:36next to him whose face is blacked out. There's also reports that he flew multiple times on
01:43what was dubbed the Lolita Express, this private plane that belonged to Jeffrey Epstein. And there
01:50is another photo purported to be of him on this plane, again, with a young woman, and she has her
01:57arm wrapped around him. Her face, again, is blacked out. It is not, however, Bill Clinton who's testifying
02:05today, but Hillary Clinton will be certainly asked questions about this. Now, whilst Bill Clinton has
02:11admitted to having met Jeffrey Epstein, Hillary Clinton has said that she did not meet him, but she has
02:18admitted that she met Ghislaine Maxwell, his accomplice. But both Clintons say that all of
02:24these interactions were always in the context of the Clinton Foundation. So there'll be a lot of
02:28questions about that. And of course, Hillary Clinton, once again, will be in a position where she has to
02:34stand by her man. And Jessica, then, just how significant is this moment of former president,
02:41a former secretary of state, having to testify in this particular case?
02:50Oh, it's quite extraordinary. I believe this is the first time that a former president has had to
02:54testify in this way since 1983. And the Democrats are actually the ones who also pushed for this.
03:02That's also extraordinary. Really, there is a lot of effort to get some kind of accountability. But of
03:09course, the elephant in the room is Donald Trump and the fact that the DOJ has not released any of
03:16the files
03:16that purport to his alleged relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. And Hillary Clinton is surely likely to make
03:23reference to that. In a recent interview with the BBC, she asked, you know, what are they hiding? There have
03:28been all
03:29sorts of questions regarding Trump's dealings with Epstein and reports that are unverified and the White House says
03:35are untrue of his alleged abuse of a minor. Jessica Lemazurier reporting there from New York. Thank you very much.
Comments