Hillary Clinton denies knowing of Epstein's crimes as she attacks Pizzagate and UFOs questioning

Hillary Clinton has denied knowledge about Jeffrey Epstein's crimes and attacked US politicians for their line of questioning.

The former US secretary of state was compelled to appear before the US House Oversight Committee in New York and asked about the disgraced financier. After the deposition, she told reporters: "I thought it was very repetitive...

they asked literally the same questions over and over again, which didn't seem to me to be very productive. "I did not know Jeffrey Epstein.

I never went to his island. I never went to his homes.

I never went to his offices." She then added that the questions became more bizarre and "off subject". She said: "It then got, at the end, quite unusual, because I started being asked about UFOs and a series of questions about Pizzagate, one of the most vile, bogus conspiracy theories that was propagated on the internet." Pizzagate was a conspiracy theory used to smear Clinton when she ran as the Democrat candidate at the 2016 US election.

The long-debunked theory alleged high-profile Democrats ran a paedophile abuse ring from a Washington pizza restaurant. At one point, Ms Clinton's testimony in New York was suspended after a photograph of her at the committee was published on social media, violating the rules for depositions.

The image was posted on X by Benny Johnson, a right-wing political commentator and YouTuber, claiming it was provided to him by Republican representative Lauren Boebert. Sky News's US correspondent James Matthews said Ms Clinton made a "blistering attack" on the oversight committee, which she accused of "partisan political theatre" and "alleging a cover-up to protect Donald Trump".

In an opening statement, which she shared on social media, she said the committee "run by elected officials with a commitment to transparency would ensure the full release of all the files... if it wanted to get to the bottom of reports that DoJ [Department of Justice] withheld FBI interviews in which a survivor accuses President Trump of heinous crimes".

She claimed she was being compelled to testify "to distract attention from President Trump's actions". Democrats claim material from the Epstein files was withheld, including records of a woman who accused the president of sexually abusing her when she was a child.

Mr Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing. Ms Clinton said Epstein was a "heinous individual" but is "far from alone.