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FULL: Comer speaks after Bill Clinton's deposition in Epstein investigation — Transcript

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0:00Good morning. This is a historical day
0:03for the United States Congress. Uh we
0:06have listened to uh people all across
0:10America who have kept up with the whole
0:13Epstein investigation and are outraged
0:16by the obvious fact that men and women
0:21for that matter of of great power and
0:23great wealth from all across the world
0:25have uh been able to get away with a lot
0:28of uh you know heinous crimes and they
0:32haven't been held accountable and they
0:33haven't even had to answer questions.
0:35about what they knew and and when they
0:38knew it. Uh today, we hope to be able to
0:42do as we did yesterday and continue to
0:44bring some of the most powerful people
0:46in the world in to answer questions.
0:49Again, no one's accusing anyone of any
0:51wrongdoing. But I think the American
0:53people have a lot of questions and our
0:56House Oversight Committee is committed
0:59to getting answers. We're committed to
1:01transparency. We've already seen a lot
1:03of very powerful people who have been
1:05held accountable by having to resign in
1:08disgrace from various boards all over
1:10the world. Uh we're going to continue to
1:14uh seek the truth. Uh try to figure out
1:17how the government failed the victims
1:19and try to hopefully hold more people
1:21accountable. That's what the purpose of
1:23this investigation is. Uh I will say
1:26this, it's very difficult to get people
1:28in uh for these depositions that of
1:31great power and great wealth. And I use
1:34yesterday and today as an example, it
1:36took seven months, seven months to get
1:39the Clintons in here. But we've got them
1:41in here and uh we look forward to
1:43answering uh to asking lots of questions
1:45that I think any curious media outlet in
1:48America would have. Uh yesterday, Miss
1:51Clinton deferred a lot of questions to
1:53her husband today. There were at least a
1:55dozen times when she said, "You'll have
1:57to ask my husband that. I can't answer
1:59that." So, uh, we already had a big
2:02portfolio of questions for him and that
2:05increased yesterday. So, we look forward
2:06to that. We'll be happy to answer a
2:07couple questionair. Mr. Chairman,
2:10>> chairman, good morning. Thank you, Mr.
2:11Chairman. Explain to us specifically
2:14what you need to hear from President
2:16Clinton today. What do you want to know?
2:17Well, I think everyone's seen there are
2:19a lot of photos that have been released
2:21by the Department of Justice as well as
2:22the embassy the state. There are a lot
2:24of email correspondents that included
2:27President Clinton. We know President
2:28Clinton had and and Secretary Clinton
2:31confirmed this yesterday. Uh Jeffrey
2:33Epstein was in the White House 17 times
2:36while Bill Clinton was president. We
2:37know that Bill Clinton flew on Jeffrey
2:40Epstein's plane at least 27 times. So,
2:43uh, those are questions that we're going
2:45to ask. Everything that, uh, most media
2:48outlets have reported with respect to
2:50pictures and correspondence between
2:52Epstein, Maxwell, and Bill Clinton,
2:54these are all questions that we're going
2:56to ask today.
2:56>> Mr. Chairman, Mr. Chairman,
2:58>> yesterday you both told me that you were
3:00planning on asking about an email that
3:01Howard Lutnik sent to Jeffrey Epste, and
3:03I presume about a Hillary Clinton sign
3:06that was the one. If he's worth asking
3:08about, is he not worth asking in to talk
3:10about what he might know?
3:12Yeah. Uh, and I think it'll be
3:14interesting when we hopefully get that
3:16video out later today or or or Demar as
3:18quick as we can get it out. I think
3:20it'll be interesting what Hillary
3:21Clinton said about Howard Luffy
3:23>> and how she said it
3:24>> and how she said it. We looked I think
3:26that was Miss Mace uh with the line of
3:28questioning. So, there was a pretty
3:30thorough line of questioning yesterday
3:32between Miss Mace and uh Miss Clinton
3:35with respect to Lutnik. And I I think
3:37you all find it very interesting what
3:39she had to say. But but we're going to
3:40continue to uh you know ask questions of
3:43of everyone that's that shows up in
3:45photos on the island and things like
3:47that.
3:47>> I'll ask her to secretary.
3:49>> I will be asking. Yes, you will.
3:52>> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Obviously, we
3:54heard from Secretary Clinton after her
3:57deposition. She described this session
4:00as repetitive. She said it veered off
4:02topics. She was asked about things like
4:03UFOs and pizza. Can you explain why
4:07those topics were brought up and also in
4:09light of the release of that?
4:11>> And she also said there were substantive
4:13questions yesterday too. But one reason
4:15there were repetitive questions about
4:17Epstein is because we went through every
4:19email and every correspondence that
4:21implied uh Hillary Clinton and Jeffrey
4:24Epstein communicated often. You all have
4:26seen the email where he said uh that she
4:28looks better in person and all of that.
4:30Those were questions we asked. So every
4:33every
4:34item of evidence that would suggest
4:37Hillary Clinton and Jeffrey Epstein had
4:39a close relationship, we went and asked
4:41about that. So it may have seemed
4:43repetitive because there was a lot of
4:45documentation that would suggest that
4:49she had a relationship with Epstein. So
4:52>> to be clear, um uh Secretary Clinton
4:54actually asked the microphone, sorry.
4:56Um, to be clear, Secretary Clinton
4:59actually asked us about what happened
5:00with the disclosure language in the
5:02NDAA. So, I mean, I know she's trying to
5:04pivot from the fact that she's here and
5:06she had a very close relationship
5:07regarding the Clinton Foundation and
5:09Epstein and Maxwell, but the point is is
5:11and I think I'd like to uh hit on this
5:13with probably Miss Mace here. Um, but I
5:15think we have a very important interest
5:17and curiosity about what specifically
5:19the co-conspirators had a role in all
5:22this, right? Um, we know for a fact that
5:24some of these were women and I think
5:26that today, at least with my line of
5:27questioning, um, you know, I'm curious
5:29about that. Why is it that these women
5:31were giving plea deals as adults for
5:32trafficking minors? Um, how much of that
5:35did they witness, etc. And so, you know,
5:37I I don't know that Secretary Clinton
5:39was all that honest about the context of
5:41this investigation. We asked extensively
5:43about intelligence ties, whether or not
5:45she felt that she was targeted as a
5:47result of possibly an intelligence
5:49gathering operation and she was very
5:51curiously interested in that and then
5:53also um you'll hear it in the response
5:55but had told us to follow up with a few
5:57countries one of which is our ally. So
5:59that's interesting.
6:01>> Question
6:03brought up a good point about the
6:04Clinton Foundation. There's so many uh
6:08examples in the evidence the Department
6:10of Justice releases and correspondence
6:11where Epstein bragged about how involved
6:14he was initially in setting up the
6:17Clinton Global Initiative and the
6:18Clinton Foundation. We asked those
6:20questions to Secretary Clinton yesterday
6:22and and she kept saying, "Well, she was
6:25in the Senate at that time. She wasn't
6:26focused on it. You'll have to ask my
6:28husband." So, a lot of the Clinton
6:29Global Initiative questions yesterday
6:31went unanswered because Miss Clinton
6:34deferred to her husband. So, we'll do
6:36one more question.
6:38It's our understanding that you guys
6:40asked Secretary Clinton yesterday about
6:41photos of her husband in the Epstein
6:44files. What was her reaction when you
6:46showed various photos, for example, her
6:48husband in the jacuzzi that we've seen?
6:50>> I'm going to let
6:51>> I'm going to let Miss
6:54We're on TV.
6:55>> Okay. I I'm not going to say anything.
6:57No. uh she didn't want to answer any
6:59questions about any of that and deferred
7:01most of those if not all of those
7:03questions to her husband and he will be
7:05thoroughly uh asked about that today. Um
7:09you know what did he know? What did he
7:10know? What did he see? Um because there
7:12are other people who come forward
7:13publicly like Kevin Spacy who thought
7:15all of this was very strange and
7:17actually a very high risk for a
7:19president of the United States or former
7:21president. It's all very bizarre. Um,
7:23but I asked her very pointed questions
7:25and you'll see that in the transcript in
7:26the video that comes out and you'll see
7:27how she responded um uh as well
7:32screaming
7:33>> and and and and I we'll close with this.
7:35We're going to we're going to get the
7:37video out as quickly as it we can get it
7:39uploaded and the sound and everything
7:41from yesterday. So, uh this is for all
7:43practical purposes a public deposition.
7:45The the American people are going to see
7:47it. I I I've heard C-SPAN's going to air
7:49it wire to wire. Uh, so everyone's going
7:52to see what was asked yesterday and I
7:54think that'll answer a lot of questions,
7:55especially with Lutnik and and other
7:57things like that. Throughout the day,
7:59we'll try to send different members out
8:01to to give you brief updates. We don't
8:02want to uh
8:06disclose what's going on in the in the
8:07deposition specifically until after at
8:10the conclusion, but we'll keep you
8:12updated and we appreciate everyone being
8:14here and look forward to uh updating you
8:16throughout the day.
8:16>> Miss M, what do you mean that Hillary
8:18Clinton was screaming? She was unhinged
8:20and I hope that President Clinton is uh
8:22less unhinged today than his wife was
8:24yesterday. You'll see it.
8:25>> Why do you think she had
8:30>> Well, he was basically instrumental for
8:32his you'll find out from Clinton today.
8:37>> Congresswoman, who was the ally you were
8:38referring to? Who's the ally?
8:41>> The biggest thing is we need
8:42transparency, accountability, and we
8:44need justice for the victims. And we
8:46need to make sure we find out how can we
8:48write laws to prevent human trafficking
8:51and prevent people of that evil level
8:54infiltrating the highest levels of
8:56government. Thank you.
9:13>> Dems are going to gaggle in just a
9:14second. It's not the best. Uh,
9:18>> you got your head is like right in the
9:20middle there like so it's not the best
9:22spot.
9:23>> I mean, it's like, you know,
9:32>> heads up.
9:46All right. Thank you all uh for being
9:47here today. I'm Robert Garcia. I'm the
9:49ranking member uh leader of the
9:51oversight committee for Democrats. And
9:53we're going to make some brief comments.
9:55Uh everyone's got a few brief remarks
9:56and then we're going to start the
9:57deposition. Uh want to just begin by um
10:00just saying that what we're interested
10:01in today is a serious deposition. We
10:05have real questions that deserve serious
10:09answers from former President Clinton.
10:11And we have said from day one that
10:13Democrats want to talk to anyone whether
10:16they are a Republican or a Democrat, no
10:18matter how powerful they are, whatever
10:20position that they've been in, if anyone
10:22has information about Jeffrey Epstein
10:25and certainly the horror that he
10:27inflicted on so many women and children,
10:30we want to hear from them. What we do
10:32not want today is a sideshow and
10:36questions about UFOs or about conspiracy
10:40theories from decades ago, which is what
10:43unfortunately happened yesterday when a
10:47series of bizarre questions were asked
10:49of Secretary Clinton. And Secretary
10:51Clinton was clear. She never met Jeffrey
10:53Epstein. She never went on the island.
10:55She's never on the plane. And she had no
10:58knowledge, of course, of Jeffrey
10:59Epstein's crimes.
11:02Want to also add that there are a lot of
11:04questions today whether they're about
11:06Epson's finances, about survivors, about
11:09foreign intelligence that we look
11:11forward to asking in a way that's
11:12serious and dignified and we hope
11:14Republicans do the same. I also want to
11:17add one other thing which I think is
11:19really important.
11:21Republicans have now set a new president
11:23which is to bring in presidents and
11:26former presidents to testify. So, we're
11:28once again going to make that call that
11:30we did yesterday. We are now asking and
11:33demanding that President Trump
11:36officially come in and testify in front
11:39of the oversight committee. He appears
11:41in the Epstein files next to next to
11:44Jeffrey Epstein and Galain Maxwell
11:46almost more than anybody else. So, it's
11:48time for the president to answer
11:50questions about why files are missing
11:51from the DOJ, why there's been a White
11:53House cover up and why we continue in
11:57that administration to call this
11:58investigation a hoax.
12:01And finally, I'll review the call that
12:04we made yesterday that we are demanding
12:05again that the press and the public be
12:08allowed inside the depositions so that
12:10you can hear the answers and the
12:12questions directly. And if that's not
12:14going to happen, they need to release a
12:16full unedited
12:19review of the questions and video within
12:2224 hours of the end of these
12:24depositions. That means the Secretary
12:26Clinton deposition needs to be released
12:28immediately today. And with that, I'll
12:31pass it along to Mr.
12:33>> Thank you so much. Today, we're here to
12:35conduct a serious investigation. And um
12:38it is obvious that our Republican
12:40colleagues, at least yesterday, we're
12:42not here to do the same thing. We've
12:44said it many times and we'll continue to
12:46say it again. We will hear from anyone.
12:48We don't care who you are. We just want
12:50the truth. All of us have met with the
12:53survivors. All of us looked him in the
12:55eyes and promised them that we would see
12:58this thing through the end and do it in
12:59a serious way, asking questions about
13:02UAPs, UFOs. As interested as I am in the
13:04subject, too, it it has nothing to do
13:08with this investigation, don't waste our
13:11time. Don't waste the time of survivors
13:14who have been waiting and waiting for
13:15justice. Now, finally, the government is
13:17paying attention. Members of Congress
13:18are paying attention. Stay focused on
13:21the matter at hand.
13:23We're also calling out the hypocrisy of
13:25our Republican colleagues who, yes,
13:27we're here to talk with President
13:29Clinton today. We'll talk with anyone.
13:30But how come people like Howard Ludnik
13:33see it seems like they don't want to
13:34talk with him? They don't want to talk
13:36with the president. They want to they
13:37don't want to call in Pam Bondi who has
13:39done everything that she can do to cover
13:43up and to slow down our investigation. A
13:47law passed by Congress damn year damn
13:49near unanimously that she's done
13:51everything she can to slow down the
13:53release of the files. And even when
13:54they're released and they said members
13:56of Congress would be able to go to the
13:58Department of Justice to view them
13:59unredacted. And I know all of us, if not
14:02most of us, have gone in there and seen
14:04files that are still redacted and not
14:07given a proper explanation as to why we
14:09can't view them. We know the Department
14:11of Justice has deleted things having to
14:14do with Donald Trump, has deleted things
14:16having to do with Howard Lnik and people
14:18connected to the administration. We know
14:20that Pam Bondi has been spying on
14:23members of Congress as we've been trying
14:25to conduct our legitimate oversight
14:28responsibilities. So, we are here to see
14:30this through. We're here because we know
14:32that this is about justice for the
14:34survivors. But justice also means that
14:36this never happens again. That's why
14:39this investigation is so important. We
14:40don't want this failure of government,
14:43this failure of elite billionaires
14:46getting away with a different system of
14:48justice. We don't want this to happen
14:49again. And that's why we're here today.
14:51We are serious about this. And my hope
14:53is that my Republican colleagues who say
14:55they're serious about it back it up with
14:57action. not just with the questions you
14:59ask here today, but what you do from
15:01here on out. It's not about party, it's
15:03about this nation. It's about protecting
15:05our most vulnerable people. Thank you.
15:10>> Good afternoon. I'm James Walkenshaw
15:12from Virginia's 11th district. I am glad
15:15that President Clinton is going to sit
15:17down today with us and answer questions
15:20under oath. Anybody who had a
15:22significant relationship with Jeffrey
15:25Epstein should explain what, if
15:28anything, and when they knew about the
15:32crimes that were being committed.
15:34President Clinton's sworn statement said
15:36that he had no knowledge of the crimes
15:38that were committed. And I know that
15:40we're committed to asking tough
15:42questions about that today. But
15:45President Clinton's presence here today
15:49under oath highlights the Donald
15:52Trumpsized gaping hole in Chairman
15:55Comr's investigation.
15:58President Trump has mentioned tens of
16:00thousands of times in the files. We
16:03learned in recent days that files
16:06related to an accusation made against
16:09President Trump have been removed, not
16:11released to the public in the files. And
16:14this investigation will not be complete
16:17until we bring President Trump in to
16:19answer questions under oath. I'm hopeful
16:22that Chairman Comr will have the courage
16:24to move us in that direction. Thank you.
16:28I'm Congressman Suas Ceremony from
16:30Virginia's 10th district. Uh we're going
16:32to ask President Clinton the hard
16:34questions today. We're going to get to
16:35the truth about his relationship with
16:37Jeffrey Epstein. Uh but let's be real,
16:39we are talking to the wrong president
16:41today. President Trump is the one who
16:43released has not released two and a half
16:44million files. President Trump is the
16:46one who is blocking our investigation.
16:49President Trump is the one who wants
16:50this to go away. But it will not go
16:52away. And so yes, we will talk to
16:54President Clinton today. But moving
16:56forward, this needs to be not about
16:57party, but about getting to the truth
16:59and getting justice for the survivors.
17:05>> Congressman West Bill here. I'm sorry
17:06these glasses go dark on me. Um, first
17:10and foremost, I think what is getting
17:12lost in much of this is that this is
17:14about justice for the victims and the
17:17survivors. And we can't forget that this
17:19is not political theater, which um
17:22Republicans seem to be interested in.
17:25This is about getting to the bottom of
17:28exactly what happened and holding those
17:31um responsible accountable. And that's
17:34exactly what we're here to do. And so
17:37we're going to continue to uh keep
17:39pushing Republicans to do the right
17:41thing. We need to see anyone who has
17:45information with respect to um um the
17:48Epstein files or this sex trafficking,
17:52they need to be brought before um this
17:55committee and we need to have a serious
17:57investigation. And I and I've said it
17:59before as a former prosecutor. I've led
18:02these types of investigations and this
18:04has not been a serious investigation by
18:06any stretch of the imagination. The
18:09American people want um to see justice
18:12served. The victims and the survivors
18:14deserve justice.
18:19>> Good morning, Congresswoman Yasamanari
18:21from Arizona's third district. I am
18:23grateful that we are here day two of
18:25these depositions with Secretary Clinton
18:27and President Bill Clinton. We've always
18:29said we will take answers from anyone
18:31and nobody is above congressional
18:33oversight, but let's be absolutely
18:36honest about something. If the
18:38Republicans want to be serious about
18:40this investigation and getting to the
18:42truth and accountability for
18:44perpetrators, then we have to look to
18:47the most powerful person in the United
18:49States and the world, which is President
18:51Donald Trump. He is mentioned in the
18:54Epstein files more than almost anyone.
18:57And just this week, incredibly damning
19:00reporting came out to say that there
19:02were credible allegations from a woman
19:05who said that she was abused by Donald
19:07Trump when she was a minor. The FBI
19:10investigated this and interviewed this
19:13individual multiple times. You do not do
19:16that if it is not serious. Further, we
19:19need to investigate the ongoing White
19:22House cover up. We know that the
19:24Department of Justice has been
19:25withholding files. They have been making
19:27illegal redactions. The FBI and Cash
19:30Mattel have been lying under oath. All
19:32of these people need to be deposed
19:35before this committee. We need to take
19:37this investigation seriously. There are
19:40more than a thousand people who were
19:42harmed by Jeffrey Epstein, Gain Maxwell,
19:45and many other rich and powerful people,
19:48children whose lives were literally
19:51altered forever at the hands of this
19:55abuse. This is very serious and I think
19:57the fact that some of the Republicans on
19:59the oversight committee feel that it is
20:02appropriate to make statements to say
20:04that President Trump is somehow
20:06exonerated. Congresswoman Anna Paulina
20:09Aluna said this last night. That is the
20:11most outrageous thing that I have ever
20:14heard. Donald Trump needs to come before
20:16this committee and we will not stop
20:18fighting until we get the truth and
20:20there's accountability and justice for
20:22the survivors.
20:26I'm Ro Connor from uh California. I want
20:29to echo what all of my colleagues said.
20:31A new president has been set in America
20:34today. Before this, we had the Trump
20:36rule. Trump defied, as all of you know,
20:39a congressional subpoena with the
20:40January 6th committee. He said,
20:42"Presidents don't have to testify. Now,
20:45we have the Clinton rule, which is that
20:47presidents and their families have to
20:49testify when Congress issues a
20:51subpoena." And that means that Donald
20:53Trump needs to come before our committee
20:56and explain uh what he knew about
20:58Epstein and explain why we have not had
21:00a full release of the documents. We also
21:03need other people part of the Epstein
21:05class to come before this committee. If
21:07President Clinton can answer questions,
21:09many others need to as well. I was
21:11pleased to see Congresswoman Nancy Mace
21:13today calling for Howard Lutnik to come
21:16before our committee. I believe we will
21:18have the votes to subpoena him and uh we
21:21will work with ranking member Garcia to
21:24make sure that he comes before a
21:25>> committee.
21:29Mentioning foreign intelligence Virginia
21:32never accused the former President Bill
21:34Clinton of wrongdoing but she did say
21:36that he visited at island that she saw
21:38him there but the former president say
21:41he never went. You mentioned Howard
21:43Blutnick several times. We know that he
21:45claimed to cut off ties with Epstein but
21:48then was found to have visited the
21:49island. So who do you believe Virginia
21:51or President?
21:52>> Those questions are actually going to be
21:53asked today in deposition.
21:55>> Mr. Ranking member, just a short time
21:57ago, your Republican colleagues said
22:00that there was some type of exchange
22:01yesterday with the secretary where she
22:04was screaming. What is your
22:06characterization of what happened? I I I
22:08hope that the uh Republicans release the
22:10actual video unedited immediately
22:14because to say that the secretary was
22:16screaming uh I think is beyond a
22:18mischaracterization. What happened
22:19yesterday was a disgrace to be asking
22:22about UFOs, Pizzagate, conspiracy
22:25theories. You yourself are going to see
22:27the types of questions that she was
22:29asked to to to defend her husband, not
22:33directly to her, not information about
22:34her. But I think it's I think they
22:36didn't release the videos right now. You
22:37should all be
22:38>> WHO
22:41I You guys have talked often about the
22:43president being set by President Clinton
22:45appearing here today as opposed to
22:46President Trump. Is the way that
22:49President Clinton answers these
22:50questions today also setting a precedent
22:52if he invokes executive privilege or
22:54says he doesn't remember. Could that set
22:56the stage for President Trump to do a
22:57similar situation?
22:59>> I think it was telling that uh Secretary
23:01Clinton did not take the fifth one time
23:03yesterday. She answered the questions.
23:05Uh that information needs to be
23:07released. I think it's important that
23:08President Clinton do the same. I think
23:09he will answer questions today. I think
23:11that President Trump needs to man up,
23:16get in front of this committee and
23:17answer the questions and Scott calling
23:19investigation a hoax. And we've got to
23:20go.
23:21>> Who asked Pete to get questions?
23:23Congressman Connor.

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