Bill Clinton to face questions over Epstein ties<\/h2>\n<\/header>\n
Hello and welcome to the US politics<\/a> live blog.<\/p>\n Former US president Bill Clinton will face questions from a Congressional panel on Friday on his well-documented links to Jeffrey Epstein<\/strong>, as Democrats seek to shift focus onto Donald Trump\u2019s own ties to the convicted sex offender.<\/p>\n Clinton features prominently throughout the latest Epstein files disclosures, with the former president insisting that he broke ties with him well before the disgraced billionaire\u2019s 2008 conviction for sex offenses.<\/p>\n Being mentioned in the files released by the US Department of Justice does not imply wrongdoing, and Clinton has not been accused of a crime or formally investigated, AFP reports.<\/p>\n He follows his wife, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who testified on Thursday<\/a>, calling for Donald Trump \u2013 who like Bill Clinton had ties with Epstein \u2013 to appear before the panel.<\/p>\n \u201cIf this committee is serious about learning the truth about Epstein\u2019s trafficking crimes… it would ask [Trump] directly under oath about the tens of thousands of times he shows up in the Epstein files,\u201d she said in an opening statement published online.<\/p>\n The depositions are being held behind closed doors even though the Clintons called for them to be open and televised, a move Bill Clinton<\/a> denounced as akin to a \u201ckangaroo court.\u201d<\/p>\n In other developments:<\/p>\n Zohran Mamdani<\/strong>, New York\u2019s mayor, met again with Donald Trump<\/strong> in the Oval Office to discuss federal funding for a housing project, and persuaded the president to release a Columbia University student detained by ICE agents.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Hillary Clinton<\/strong> said<\/a> that, after she repeatedly told House Republicans she did not know Jeffrey Epstein, their questions got \u201cquite 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\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The Federal Aviation Administration closed the airspace in an area around Fort Hancock, Texas after congressional Democrats said a military laser-based anti-drone system accidentally shot down a Customs and Border Protection drone.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Democratic leaders in the US Senate said they will also force a vote \u201cin the coming days\u201d on a war powers resolution to make sure any US participation in military action against Iran requires congressional authorization.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Thomas Massie<\/strong>, a Republican congressman from Kentucky, called on the justice department to explain why a photograph<\/a> that appears to show Howard Lutnick<\/strong>, the commerce secretary, with Jeffrey Epstein<\/strong>, was removed from the public database of Epstein files.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n