The Trump administration faces numerous pressures after the Justice Department released a tiny portion of the case files in December, a month after the legal deadline had expired.
The former president of the United States did not appear, this Tuesday (13), at a closed-door hearing at the Capitol, in Washington, on the case of sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein, as a result of which he is subject to contempt charges. The former Democratic president (1993-2001) and his wife, , were summoned by the Congressional Oversight Committee, which is investigating the connections between Epstein and powerful figures in the United States, and how information about his crimes was handled. “He didn’t show up today,” Republican James Comer, head of the powerful committee in the House of Representatives, told the press. “No one is accusing Bill Clinton of anything reprehensible, we just have questions,” he added.
The testimony of Hillary Clinton, former head of US diplomacy and defeated by Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential elections, is scheduled for Wednesday, but her presence is unlikely. The Trump administration faces numerous pressures after the Justice Department released a tiny portion of the Epstein case files in December a month after the legal deadline had expired.
The death of Epstein, found hanging in his cell in New York in 2019 before his trial for sexual crimes, fueled numerous conspiracy theories, supported by Trump supporters, according to which he was murdered to protect high-profile personalities. A figure of New York high society, Epstein is accused of having sexually exploited more than a thousand young people, including minors.
Transparency
During his 2024 campaign, Trump had promised his base to make damning revelations about the financier. But, since his return to power, the Republican has been reluctant to publish the process documents and has suffered a boomerang effect, even among his supporters. In August, when the issue was generating great controversy in the United States due to the government’s reluctance to release the files, the Clinton couple were summoned by Congress.
“By your own admission, you traveled aboard Jeffrey Epstein’s private plane on four occasions in 2002 and 2003,” stated Comer’s subpoena sent to Bill Clinton. And about Hillary it indicated: “Her family appears to have had close ties with Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell”, sentenced in 2021 to 20 years in prison for crimes of sexual exploitation.
The committee will vote next week to begin proceedings against Bill Clinton for obstruction of Congress, Comer added on Tuesday. This process must then be voted on in the Chamber, before the Department of Justice takes legal action.
1% of published files
Bill Clinton said in 2019 that he had not had contact with Epstein for more than a decade and assured that he was never aware of the businessman’s “terrible crimes”. President Trump and Epstein had a close relationship. But, like Clinton, the Republican denies having knowledge of the crimes committed by the financier and claims that he broke up with him long before the investigations by the courts.
In late December, the Trump administration began publishing thousands of files on the Epstein case, in compliance with a law passed by Congress in November. According to the Department of Justice, so far around 12,285 documents have been published, totaling more than 125,000 pages, but representing less than 1% of the total currently under review.
The first package of materials released included photographs of Bill Clinton and other celebrities, such as pop stars Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson, who also frequented spaces with Epstein. Clinton said he had nothing to hide and urged the Justice Department to publish all material related to him. The latest revelations, in December, contain many references to Trump, including documents detailing flights he took on Epstein’s private jet.
*With information from AFP
