Hillary Clinton has blasted a Republican-led committee of Congress for summoning her to answer questions about Jeffrey Epstein while failing to push US President Donald Trump to do the same thing.
"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 cover them up despite legitimate calls for answers," Ms Clinton said.
The former first lady is appearing at a closed-door deposition before Congress's House Oversight Committee a day ahead of her husband, Bill Clinton.
The former president appears in photos and other documents released by the Department of Justice (DOJ), but Ms Clinton says she does not remember even meeting the late sex offender.
"I never flew on his plane or visited his island, homes or offices," she said in her opening statement, which she posted online.
The committee is investigating the US government's handling of the Epstein case, including a plea deal with prosecutors that let him off federal sex-trafficking charges in 2008.
But only one of the law enforcement officials involved had appeared before the committee, Ms Clinton said.
She said the committee had held zero public hearings "despite espousing the need for transparency" and had made "little effort to call the people who show up most prominently in the Epstein files".
She also pointed out that no Republicans showed up for the deposition of billionaire Republican Party donor Les Wexner last week.
Mr Wexner was named as one of Epstein's co-conspirators in a 2019 FBI document, but was never charged and has denied wrongdoing. A video clip from his deposition went viral after his lawyer was heard telling Mr Wexner he would "f***ing kill" him if he answered a question with more than five words.
Ms Clinton said the committee's "institutional failure is designed to protect one political party and one public official, rather than to seek truth and justice for the victims and survivors".
Trump questioned 'every day'
At a media conference before the hearing, which is taking place in New York, committee chairman James Comer denied the Clintons were being treated unfairly.
"They've never answered questions, unlike President Trump, who gets questioned every day by just about every one of you about his knowledge or involvement with Epstein," Mr Comer told the assembled press.
Warning it would be a "long deposition", he said the committee had many questions for Ms Clinton, including how Epstein "was able to surround himself with some of the most powerful men in the world".
"No-one's accusing, at this moment, the Clintons of any wrongdoing. They're going to have due process," Mr Comer said.
Democrats, who are in the minority on the committee, want Mr Trump to be summoned for questioning.
"We should depose the person who is mentioned in the Epstein files almost more than any other person next to Ghislaine Maxwell, and that is Donald Trump," the committee's lead Democrat, Robert Garcia, said.
The committee's Democrats were also set to investigate documents that appeared to be missing from the files released by the DOJ, he said.
NPR this week reported that the department had withheld some files related to decades-old allegations that Mr Trump sexually abused a minor. The withheld files appeared to include more than 50 pages of FBI interviews, the outlet reported.
The department previously said it had released all files required under legislation passed by Congress, including some containing "untrue and sensationalist claims" about Mr Trump.
Photo forces pause
The Clintons had initially refused to appear before the committee, but agreed after being threatened with a contempt of Congress finding, which can lead to criminal charges.
The deposition was briefly paused after a photo of Ms Clinton giving evidence was posted on X.
The photo was shared by conservative podcaster Benny Johnson, who said it was provided by Republican committee member Lauren Boebert.
The BBC reported Ms Boebert told media outside the hearing: "I really admired her blue suit, so wanted to capture that for everyone."
The Clintons requested that their depositions be open to the media, but their request was denied.
During a break in the deposition, Mr Garcia said the photo leak represented "Republicans breaking their own committee rules".
A video and transcript would be released when the deposition was over, Mr Comer said. Mr Garcia said Democrats were demanding the transcript be released, unedited, within 24 hours.
