Chappaqua, New York - Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday that the House committee investigating Jeffrey Epstein should call President Donald Trump to testify about his ties to the late convicted sex offender.

Clinton, in an opening statement at her deposition before the Republican-led House Oversight Committee, accused the panel of deposing her to "distract attention" from Trump.

"You have compelled me to testify, fully aware that I have no knowledge that would assist your investigation, in order to distract attention from President Trump's actions and to cover them up despite legitimate calls for answers," Clinton said.

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She said the committee should ask Trump "directly under oath about the tens of thousands of times he shows up in the Epstein files."

Trump was a one-time close friend of Epstein but has not been charged with any wrongdoing related to the disgraced financier, who died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking.

Clinton, whose husband, former president Bill Clinton is to testify before the committee on Friday, said she had no knowledge of the criminal activities of Epstein or his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.

She accused the committee of an "institutional failure" that was designed to "protect one political party and one public official, rather than to seek truth and justice for the victims and survivors [of Epstein]."