00:00Have you reviewed any 2025-2026 Epstein files that were released that you believe reference or relate to those specific
00:092016 claims regarding the Podesta emails, Comet Ping Pong, Pizza, used as code, possibly?
00:17I'm sorry.
00:18You're asking her about whether she's reviewed emails in the Epstein files which relate to the wacky Pizzagate scam?
00:26You could characterize it however you want.
00:27I just would like to know if she's familiar with any of them.
00:29So, excuse me, your question is about whether or not she has reviewed any emails in the Epstein release files
00:36about Pizzagate.
00:39Correct.
00:42Pizzagate was totally made up.
00:44It was an outrageous allegation that ended up hurting a number of people that caused a deranged young man to
00:53show up with his assault rifle and shoot up a local pizzeria.
00:59I can't believe you're even referencing it.
01:01You should be.
01:03There are connections to the language.
01:07Well, the QAnon people believe there are.
01:09I don't know what QAnon people believe.
01:11Have at it.
01:11But you've accused certain parties, and I think even right now today, of promoting slow-walking information in ways that
01:20fuels conspiracies.
01:22In your view, did any Epstein-Maxwell-related investigations or file handling pre- or post-2019 contribute to or
01:34intersect with the spread of Pizzagate-style theories about Democrat figures?
01:40Objection.
01:41I have no way of answer.
01:42That is the most ridiculously.
01:46Have you or your representatives identified any Epstein file content that has been misinterpreted online to revive those claims?
01:55And what steps, if any, have you taken to clarify?
01:59Again, objection to the ground of speculation.
02:02I think that this is all very reasonable.
02:03Well, first of all, I don't follow the crazy conspiracy stories that are online.
02:13I regret that anybody does.
02:15I find it quite sad but also disturbing that people would believe some of what is put forth, like Pizzagate.
02:23So I have taken no steps to review anything that might have any connection to something which I think is
02:33totally bogus.
02:35And just to make clear for the record, have you ever met Jeffrey Epstein?
02:41I do not recall ever meeting Jeffrey Epstein in preparation for this hearing.
02:48I was told that he attended an event at the White House that was put on by the White House
02:53Historical Association.
02:56But I have no recollection of that.
03:09And only that one time at the White House Historical Association?
03:14That's the only time that I'm aware of that I might have possibly been in the same room with him.
03:20Did you have an initial impression of Mr. Epstein?
03:23I have no recollection of Mr. Epstein.
03:24I just told that he was in a room at a dinner that we were hosting for the White House
03:29Historical Association.
03:32What was your understanding of what Mr. Epstein did for work?
03:37I knew nothing about him.
03:38He was there as an invited guest by the White House Historical Association.
03:43That's my best recollection.
03:46And no one else informed you of what Mr. Epstein did for work?
03:49No, but we had hundreds and thousands of people who came to the White House.
03:53I was not informed of what people did or didn't do for work, especially someone that I never even had
04:00a conversation with.
04:02Do you know who invited Mr. Epstein to the White House?
04:07I can only tell you what I know, which is that he apparently was a guest invited by the White
04:13House Historical Association
04:15to attend a dinner to thank people who gave money to the White House Historical Association for the upkeep and
04:21maintenance of the White House.
04:23That's what I was informed of in preparation for coming here.
04:28And finally, do you think that Donald Trump should be deposed by this committee?
04:31Absolutely. You know, I was a lawyer.
04:37And as a lawyer, you would look for pattern and practice.
04:41If you were deposing a witness in a case that you were trying, if you were in court, what did
04:49you know about this person?
04:50What you knew could influence how you questioned that person, how you tried the case.
04:59Donald Trump has been held civilly liable for sexual assault by a jury of his peers.
05:09Nine members of a jury found him liable in the sexual assault of E. Jean Carroll.
05:17That is behavior. That fits a pattern if one were looking for a pattern.
05:23He has also been convicted on 34 felony counts for attempting to hide his relationship with an escort
05:35and then to commit business fraud to prevent it from becoming public in the 2016 campaign,
05:43which was ultimately election interference.
05:47So if I were running the committee or I were involved in this investigation,
05:52I would be looking for people who maybe had some prior conduct that might be relevant to either money or
06:03crimes.
06:03And yes, I think that it would be in keeping with the scope of the investigation of this committee
06:14to set up a deposition with President Trump.
06:20I know he's been deposed many, many, many times.
06:23He's taken the Fifth Amendment many, many hundreds of times.
06:26So I'm not saying you're going to get a lot of information.
06:30But given what's in the files and given past and prior conduct, he would be on my witness list.
06:42Excuse me, can I interrupt?
06:44I have another.
06:45Photos that are being released of the secretary as she is testifying from inside this room.
06:51Can you please advise me as to whether or not that's permissible and consistent with the rules,
06:56particularly given that we have asked for a public hearing?
06:59If there are photos that are being released of the secretary as she is testifying,
07:03can you please explain how that can occur?
07:04I'm done with this.
07:05If you guys are doing that, I am done.
07:07You can hold me in contempt from now until the cows come home.
07:10This is just typical behavior.
07:11We will go off the record.
07:13Oh, for heaven's sake.
07:14So I would like to understand how that's permissible.
07:17It was before the hearing was.
07:18It doesn't matter.
07:19We all are abiding by the same rules.
07:22I will take that down.
07:23Yeah, well.
07:24I would like to take a break at this moment.
07:26I'd like to have a conversation.
07:27I'm done for now.
07:28Go off the record.
07:29Go off the record.
07:31Mr. Chairman, ranking member, members of the committee, as a former United States senator,
07:38I have respect for legislative oversight, and I expect its exercise, as do the American people,
07:45to be principled and fearless in pursuit of truth and accountability.
07:50As we all know, however, too often congressional investigations are partisan political theater,
07:56which is an abdication of duty and an insult to the American people.
08:00This committee justified its subpoena to me based on its assumption that I have information
08:06regarding the investigations into the criminal activities of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
08:12Let me be as clear as I can.
08:16I do not.
08:18As I stated in my sworn declaration on January 13th, I had no idea about their criminal activities.
08:26I do not recall ever encountering Mr. Epstein.
08:30I never flew on his plane or visited his island, homes, or offices.
08:36I have nothing to add to that.
08:39Like every decent person, I've been horrified by what we have learned about their crimes.
08:45It's unfathomable that Mr. Epstein initially got a slap on the wrist in 2008,
08:52which allowed him to continue his predatory practices for another decade.
08:59Mr. Chairman, your investigation is supposed to be assessing the federal government's handling
09:04of the investigations and prosecutions of Epstein and his crimes.
09:09You subpoenaed eight law enforcement officials, all of whom ran the Department of Justice
09:14or directed the FBI, when Epstein's crimes were investigated and prosecuted.
09:20Of those eight, only one appeared before the committee.
09:24Five of the six former attorneys general were allowed to submit brief statements stating they
09:31had no information to provide.
09:33You have held zero public hearings, refused to allow the media to attend them, including
09:39today, despite espousing the need for transparency on dozens of occasions.
09:45You have made little effort to call the people who show up most prominently in the Epstein files.
09:52And when you did, not a single Republican member showed up for Les Wexner's deposition.
10:01This institutional failure is designed to protect one political party and one public official,
10:08rather than to seek truth and justice for the victims and survivors, as well as inform the
10:14public who want to get to the bottom of this matter.
10:17My heart breaks for the survivors, and I am furious on their behalf.
10:23I have spent my life advocating for women and girls.
10:27I have worked hard to stop the terrible abuses so many women and girls face here and around
10:33the world, including human trafficking, forced labor, domestic violence, and sexual slavery.
10:40For too long, these have been largely invisible crimes or not treated as crimes at all.
10:46But the survivors are real, and they are entitled to justice.
10:51In Southeast Asia, I met girls as young as 12 years old who had been forced into prostitution
10:58and raped repeatedly.
10:59Some were dying of AIDS.
11:02In Eastern Europe, I met mothers who told me how they lost their daughters to trafficking
11:07and did not know where to turn.
11:09In settings around the world, I met survivors trying to rebuild their lives and help rescue
11:14others with little support from people in power who too often turned a blind eye and a cold
11:21shoulder.
11:22If you are new to this issue, let me tell you, Jeffrey Epstein was a heinous individual, but
11:29he is far from alone.
11:31This is not a one-off tabloid sensation or political scandal.
11:36It is a global scourge with an unimaginable human toll.
11:41My work combating sex trafficking goes back to my days as First Lady.
11:46I worked to pass the first federal legislation against trafficking and was proud that my husband
11:52signed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, which increased support for survivors and gave
11:58prosecutors better tools for going after traffickers.
12:02As Secretary of State, I appointed a former federal prosecutor, Lucy DeBaca, to ramp up
12:09our global anti-trafficking efforts.
12:12I oversaw nearly 170 anti-trafficking programs in 70 nations and directly pressed foreign leaders
12:21to crack down on trafficking networks in their countries.
12:24Every year, we published a global report to shine a light on abuses.
12:30The findings of those reports triggered sanctions on countries failing to make progress,
12:35so they became a powerful diplomatic tool to drive concrete action.
12:41I insisted that the United States be included in the report for the first time ever in 2011,
12:48because we must hold ourselves not just to the same standard as the rest of the world,
12:53but to an even higher one.
12:55Sex trafficking and modern slavery should have no place in America.
13:00None.
13:02Infuriatingly, the Trump administration gutted the Trafficking in Persons office at the State Department,
13:08cutting more than 70 percent of the career civil and foreign service experts who worked so hard
13:16to prevent trafficking crimes.
13:18The annual trafficking report required by law was delayed for months.
13:24The message from the Trump administration to the American people and the world could not be clearer.
13:31Combating human trafficking is no longer an American priority under the Trump White House.
13:37That's a tragedy, it's a scandal, and it deserves vigorous investigation and oversight.
13:45A committee endeavoring to stopping human trafficking would seek to understand
13:50what specific steps are needed to fix a legal system that allowed Epstein to get away with his crimes.
13:57A committee run by elected officials with a commitment to transparency
14:02would ensure the full release of all the files.
14:07It would ensure that the lawful redactions of those files protected the victims and survivors,
14:14not powerful men and political allies.
14:17It would get to the bottom of reports that DOJ withheld FBI interviews in which a survivor
14:26accuses President Trump of crimes.
14:29It would subpoena anyone who asked on which night there would be the wildest party on Epstein's island.
14:38It would demand testimony from prosecutors from Florida, New York, and the Department of Justice
14:44about why they gave Epstein a sweetheart deal and chose not to pursue others who may have been implicated in
14:52his crimes.
14:53And it would demand that Secretary Rubio and Attorney General Bondi testify
14:58about why this administration is abandoning survivors and playing into the hands of traffickers.
15:05It would seek out advocates and law enforcement officials on the front lines of the fight against human trafficking
15:12and ask them what support they need.
15:15And it would put forth legislation to provide more resources and force this administration to act.
15:23But that's not happening.
15:25Instead, you have compelled me to testify fully aware that I have no knowledge that would assist your investigation
15:32in order to distract from President Trump's actions and to cover them up despite legitimate calls for answers.
15:40If this committee is serious about learning the truth about Epstein's trafficking crimes,
15:45it would not rely on press gaggles to get answers from our current president on his involvement.
15:52It would ask him directly under oath about the tens of thousands of times he shows up in the Epstein
15:59files.
16:00If the majority was serious, it would not waste time on fishing expeditions.
16:05There is too much to be done.
16:07What is being held back?
16:09Who is being protected?
16:11And why the cover-up?
16:13So my challenge to you, Mr. Chairman, and members of this committee,
16:17is the same challenge I put to myself throughout my long service to this nation.
16:22How to be worthy of the trust of the American people that they have given to you.
16:28They expect statesmanship, not gamesmanship, leading, not grandstanding.
16:35And they expect you to use your power to get to the truth
16:39and to do more to help survivors of Epstein's crimes,
16:43as well as the millions more who are victims of sex trafficking in this country and around the world.
16:51Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
16:53And I would also like to request that the video of this deposition be made available within 24 hours,
17:01as it has been for other witnesses.
17:10Download the OneIndia app now.
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