Hillary Clinton has accused the Trump administration of a “cover-up” over the Epstein files, while claiming that she and her husband are being forced to testify before Congress to deflect scrutiny from Donald Trump.
In an interview with the BBC, Clinton said the US Department of Justice was “slow-walking” the release of documents relating to Jeffrey Epstein’s catalogue of crimes and urged the administration to “get the files out”. Despite periodic document dumps of the files since Congress mandated their release late last year, the justice department is still withholding about 3m files.
Hillary Clinton is scheduled to testify before the House oversight committee on 26 February, while Bill will appear the day after. It will be the first appearance by a former president in front of a congressional panel in more than 40 years.
“We have nothing to hide,” she added. “We have called for the full release of these files repeatedly. We think sunlight is the best disinfectant.”
The Clintons have called for their hearings to be held in public. Comer has said he is happy to hold public hearings in addition to the closed-door testimony.
Trump, who is mentioned thousands of times in the files released so far, told reporters in response to Clinton’s comments that he had been absolved.
“I’ve been totally exonerated,” he said, speaking on Air Force One. “They’re getting pulled in, that’s their problem. We’ll have to see what happens.”
Hillary Clinton accuses Trump justice department of Epstein files ‘cover-up’
Clinton’s comments, at the Munich security conference, came as she and her husband, Bill Clinton, the former president, prepare to give sworn depositions on the affair before the House oversight committee.
Top DHS spokesperson to exit role amid growing outrage over Trump’s ICE raids
Tricia McLaughlin, the Department of Homeland Security’s top spokesperson and one of the most visible defenders of the Trump administration’s deportation raids, is leaving the agency in the coming week, the department confirmed.
Iran-US talks: agreement reached on ‘guiding principles’
Iran has described the latest round of indirect talks with the US as “more constructive” and said agreement had been reached on “general guiding principles” that could lead to a further meeting on its nuclear programme.
Colbert accuses Trump administration of censorship after CBS pulls interview
The talkshow host Stephen Colbert has accused the Trump administration of censoring critics after CBS pulled his interview with a Texas Democrat on Monday, apparently at the behest of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Obama, Trump and Biden lead tributes to Jesse Jackson
Three Democratic former presidents led a wealth of tributes to Jesse Jackson, a “titan” of the civil rights movement and “one of America’s greatest patriots”, who has died at the age of 84.
Donald Trump called Jackson “a good man” and a “friend” in a social media post that quickly turned political and self-serving.
US says 11 people killed in latest strikes on alleged drug boats
US military officials have said American forces launched assaults on three alleged drug-smuggling boats, killing 11 in one of the deadliest days of the Trump administration’s months-long campaign against alleged traffickers.
What else happened today:
Catching up? Here’s what happened on 16 February 2026.
