Sudden! The hearing was chaotic! Video secretly filmed while Hillary was in the room leaked, prompting Congress to call an emergency halt

This article is reproduced from the WeChat public account: Chinese Life Network

What was supposed to be a highly confidential closed-door congressional hearing turned into the latest political storm in Washington within minutes.

On Thursday morning, when former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was questioned by Congress about the Epstein case that shocked the United States, the venue suddenly descended into chaos.A Republican congressman actually raised his mobile phone at the closed-door testimony where filming was prohibited, took a photo of Hillary and her legal team who were speaking, and quickly leaked the footage to social media.

After the photo began to spread wildly, Hillary’s lawyer asked to suspend the hearing on the spot, and the congressional investigation was forced to urgently suspend.

According to reports, Republican Representative Lauren Boebert filmed Hillary and her legal team when she was describing her relationship with Epstein to lawmakers, and was accused of leaking the photos to Benny Johnson, a celebrity commentator in the MAGA camp.

After the photo began circulating on social media, Clinton’s lawyers asked for the hearing to be suspended. According to congressional regulations, during closed-door testimony sessions, neither members nor witnesses are allowed to take photos.

The inquiry took place at the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center in Westchester County, New York, near the home of the Clintons. Hillary Clinton will testify that day, and her husband Bill Clinton is expected to attend the hearing on Friday.

The entire closed-door hearing was videotaped, but the video content must be reviewed by Hillary’s lawyers before it can be released to the public. The hearing resumed after a pause of about an hour.

A Clinton spokesman told the media: “The relevant rules of procedure were read at the beginning of the meeting. According to House rules, taking pictures during closed hearings is prohibited. Therefore, the hearing was temporarily suspended to determine the source of the photos and the reason – which may involve members of Congress violating House rules.”

Before the chaos broke out, Clinton used fiery opening statements to criticize Republicans for focusing their investigations on her but not on Trump. She did not defend her husband in her statement.

The former secretary of state said she had “no knowledge of Epstein’s criminal activities and has no recollection of meeting with him” and accused lawmakers of trying to cover up Trump’s ties to Epstein. She called the accusations against Trump “extremely serious.”

“You forced me to testify, knowing that the information I had could not assist the investigation. Your purpose was only to divert public attention from President Trump’s behavior and cover up related issues, despite society’s legitimate pursuit of the truth,” Hillary said.

She added: “If the committee really wanted to get to the bottom of Epstein’s human trafficking crimes, it wouldn’t just ask reporters to find out whether the current president was involved. Instead, it should ask him to explain under oath why he appears numerous times in the Epstein dossier.”

In January of this year, Trump’s name allegedly appeared more than 38,000 times in the millions of pages of Epstein documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Hillary further said: “If the majority party really takes this seriously, it won’t waste time on aimless investigations. There are too many things to deal with. What is being suppressed? Who is being protected? Why the cover-up?”

Although she denied any relationship with Epstein, records show that she received a $20,000 donation from Epstein in 1999 during a fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee.

Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s long-time associate and known as his “housekeeper,” attended Chelsea Clinton’s wedding in 2010, when Epstein was convicted of sex crimes.

Hillary has previously admitted that she has met him many timesMaxwell。

at present,MaxwellHe was sentenced to 20 years in prison for sex trafficking and was the only accomplice in the Epstein case to be imprisoned.

at the same time,Bill Clinton is expected to undergo rigorous questioning on Friday, becoming the first former U.S. president to be forced to testify in a congressional inquiry.

After leaving office, Clinton had a close relationship with Epstein. Flight records from Epstein’s private jet show that Clinton took his plane to the Virgin Islands, Portugal, Siberia, Japan and China more than 20 times. Clinton said that these trips were related to charity activities.

Several other photos emerged from the Epstein files, including one of Clinton sitting in a hot tub with a woman whose face was coded, and of him swimming with Maxwell and another unidentified woman.

In addition, Epstein once hung an oil painting in his Manhattan mansion depicting Clinton wearing a blue dress and red high heels.

The Clintons initially resisted subpoenas from House Republicans but agreed to attend the inquiry after being threatened with contempt of Congress charges.

The committee said it would release the video and transcript of the hearing after lawyers for the Clintons complete their review.

Before the hearing began, some lawmakers were asked whether they would ask questions about an email in Epstein’s files that showed Trump’s Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick sent emails to Epstein about Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.

“This will be on my list of questions,” Republican Rep. Nancy Mace said.

In November 2015, Epstein’s assistant forwarded an invitation letter to him. The letter showed that Lutnick invited him to attend a “very private fundraiser” at his financial company to raise money for then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. It was unclear whether Epstein attended the event. He did not donate to the Clinton campaign, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Lutnick donated $2,700, the maximum amount allowed by law at the time.

Currently, the Republican-dominated House Oversight Committee is pushing for the Clintons to testify at a time when Trump is facing pressure to release Epstein documents.

Democratic congressmen also attended the inquiry. The hearing is part of a broader congressional inquiry focusing on the Justice Department’s handling of Epstein’s case.

Epstein and Maxwell are also alleged to have played key roles in the establishment of the Clinton Foundation and the Clinton Global Initiative, according to the Epstein files.

Maxwell had previously been questioned in the bipartisan congressional inquiry, but cited the Fifth Amendment and refused to answer questions that could lead to self-incrimination.

Clinton told the BBC last week that she and her husband were “very happy to tell us everything we know – and what we know is extremely limited and has no bearing on their actions or crimes.”

“The Clintons’ testimony is critical to understanding Epstein and Maxwell’s sex trafficking network and how they sought influence to evade scrutiny,” House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said earlier this week.

He added: “Their testimony may also provide the basis for Congress to improve anti-trafficking laws. Our goal is simple: bring transparency and accountability to the American people and survivors.”

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