During an interview with the BBC at the Munich Security Conference in Berlin, Hillary Clinton criticized the handling of certain documents, stating, “They are slow walking it, they are redacting the names of men who are in it, they are stonewalling legitimate requests from politicians.”
In response, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has consistently defended the actions of the US Department of Justice, asserting that the department is “committed to transparency” and insists “nothing is being concealed.”
The most recent documents released by the DOJ include multiple mentions of Bill Clinton, shedding light on the sometimes controversial ways his staff interacted with Jeffrey Epstein and his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
Hillary Clinton emphasized that both she and her husband “have nothing to hide.” Bill Clinton has consistently denied any wrongdoing in connection with the late sex offender.
Earlier document releases included images of Bill Clinton with Epstein and depicted him in a hot tub with an individual a DOJ official described as a “victim” of Epstein’s abuse.
Without directly addressing this controversy, Hillary Clinton stated that they “are more than happy to share what we know, which is very limited and completely unrelated to their behavior or their crimes.”
“I just want it to be fair, I just want everyone to be treated the same way. That’s not true for my husband and me,” she said, repeating her desire to attend public hearings too.
She claimed that such scrutiny directed toward her and her husband was being used by the administration as a way to “divert attention from President (Donald) Trump”.
Trump, who is mentioned more than 1000 times in the documents, eventually encouraged Republicans to vote to release the files late last year after initially resisting an effort to make them public. He has repeatedly said he has “nothing to hide” and defended his handling of the files.
Mrs Clinton referenced Attorney General Pam Bondi’s testimony on Wednesday as one example indicating the administration has “something to hide”.
“(Bondi) refused to answer questions, she diverted attention away from the matters at hand, she refused to look at survivors,” Mrs Clinton said.
Her comments struck a similar tone to those made by her husband’s spokesperson in December who, when calling on the DOJ to release all the files, said “refusal to do so will confirm the widespread suspicion the Department of Justice’s actions to date are not about transparency, but about insinuation”.
The DOJ has been heavily criticised by Epstein victims and members of politicians since the files were released more than the department’s inconsistent redactions of names and details in the millions of released documents.
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