Bill Clinton faces grilling on extensive ties to Epstein

He follows his wife, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who testified Thursday, defiantly calling for US President Trump – who like Bill Clinton had many ties with Epstein – to appear before the panel.

“If this committee is serious about learning the truth about Epstein’s trafficking crimes … it would ask (Trump) directly under oath about the tens of thousands of times he shows up in the Epstein files,” she said.

The depositions under oath are being held behind closed doors, with Bill Clinton likening the proceedings to a “kangaroo court.” The couple has called for them to be open and televised.

The grilling comes with greater peril for the former president than for his wife, as he has acknowledged extensive interactions with Epstein, but said he never visited the financier’s private Caribbean island.

Epstein mingled with the world’s rich, famous and powerful, and was convicted in 2008 for soliciting sex from girls as young as 14. 

He died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while facing trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.

The Republican-led House Oversight Committee is probing those who were linked to Epstein, particularly in light of the Justice Department’s disclosures of millions of new documents related to its investigation of him.

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