Jimmy Kimmel has blasted Republicans for targeting Hillary Clinton in the ongoing Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
The former first lady and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee was in the spotlight Thursday after she sat before the House Oversight Committee for her deposition surrounding the convicted sex offender. Her husband, former president Bill Clinton, is scheduled to testify about Epstein on Friday.
Kimmel complained Thursday night that the 78-year-old has been forced to testify despite her lack of apparent connection to Epstein.
The Clintons have long been a target of MAGA when it comes to Epstein. Bill Clinton faced scrutiny in December when the Department of Justice released the first major batch of the Epstein files, which included photos of Clinton posing with Epstein as well as of Clinton with an unknown young woman.
A spokesman for Clinton wrote at the time, “These emails prove Bill Clinton did nothing and knew nothing.”
In his Monologue Thursday night, Kimmel claimed it was obscene for it to be Hillary Clinton, not Trump, who House Republicans were forcing to testify. The late-night host noted Trump has numerous apparent connections to Epstein.
“There’s no evidence that Hillary Clinton has ever met Jeffrey Epstein,” Kimmel noted. “But why not harass the woman while you have the chance?”
Clinton criticized the deposition as “partisan political theater” in her four-page opening statement, and reiterated that she’d never had any knowledge or involvement with Epstein.
Despite her complaints about the hearing, Clinton told reporters afterward that she answered every question the lawmakers had for her.
Clinton also said she found it “disappointing” that the committee refused her request to make the hearing public.
“You could have seen it for yourself,” she said. “We had asked for that. We think it would have been better for the committee and its efforts to gather whatever information they are seeking.”
Kimmel echoed Clinton’s complaints.
“The Clintons insisted that their testimony be conducted openly live on camera for the public to see, but Republicans on the committee did not want that and refused because, you know, they’re transparent,” Kimmel joked.
“Why are they questioning Hillary Clinton about Jeffrey Epstein?” Kimmel wondered. “She’s never met him. They’re not even challenging that. They know she has never met him. There’s not a single email or anything in the Trump Epstein files that says she met him.”
Kimmel suggested another public figure that Republicans on the House Oversight Committee could force to testify next:
“They could bring in someone who actually knew him, someone who Epstein called his closest friend, someone who said he was a terrific guy who likes beautiful women on the younger side,” Kimmel suggested.
“Someone like, oh, I don’t know, this gentleman in the pink tie,” Kimmel said, showing a picture of Epstein and Trump hanging out at Mar-a-Lago in February 1997.
Trump has denied involvement and has consistently claimed he has been exonerated by the files. White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told The New York Times Tuesday that Trump has “been totally exonerated on anything relating to Epstein.”
Democratic lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee have also called for the president to be deposed on the Epstein case.
“We’re demanding immediately that we ask President Trump to testify in front of our committee and be deposed in front of Oversight Republicans and Democrats,” Ranking Member Robert Garcia told reporters on Thursday. “It needs to happen right now.”
Meanwhile, Republican Chairman James Comer insisted on Thursday that it was Trump, not the Clintons, who has been treated unfairly.
“They’ve never answered questions, unlike President Trump, who gets questioned every day by just about every one of you about his knowledge or involvement with Epstein,” Comer told reporters. “To my knowledge, the Clintons haven’t answered very many questions.”
“Oh, right,” Kimmel mocked.
The late-night host sarcastically asked, “Why would we need to question the president? Why would we need him to answer under oath? It’s not like he lies.”
