Hillary Clinton has told Congress she had no knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein’s or Ghislaine Maxwell’s criminal activities while giving testimony as part of a congressional probe into the convicted sex offender.

“I had no idea about their criminal activities. I do not recall ever encountering Mr Epstein,” Hillary Clinton said in an opening statement she posted on social media.

She also called on politicians to question US President Donald Trump about Epstein while under oath.

“If this Committee is serious about learning the truth about Epstein’s trafficking crimes, it would not rely on press gaggles to get answers from our current president on his involvement; it would ask him directly under oath about the tens of thousands of times he shows up in the Epstein files,” she wrote.