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WASHINGTON — Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told U.S. House lawmakers on Thursday that she had no knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein’s or Ghislaine Maxwell’s crimes at the start of two days of depositions that will also include former President Clinton.

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

The closed-door depositions in the Clintons’ hometown of Chappaqua, a typically quiet hamlet north of New York City, come after months of tense back-and-forth between the former high-powered Democratic couple and the Republican-controlled House Oversight Committee. It will be the first time that a former president has been forced to testify before Congress.

Yet the demand for a reckoning over Epstein’s abuse of underage girls has become a near-unstoppable force on Capitol Hill and beyond.

President Trump, a Republican who has expressed regret that the Clintons are being forced to testify, bowed last year to pressure to release case files on Epstein, who killed himself in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial. The Clintons, too, agreed to testify after their offers of sworn statements were rebuffed by the Oversight panel and its chairman, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., threatened criminal contempt of Congress charges against them.

“We have a very clear record that we’ve been willing to talk about,” Hillary Clinton said in an interview with the BBC earlier this month. She added that her husband had flown with Epstein for charitable trips and that she did not recall meeting Epstein but had interacted with Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend and confidant, at conferences hosted by the Clinton Foundation.

Maxwell, a British socialite, also attended the 2010 wedding of their daughter, Chelsea Clinton.

“We are more than happy to say what we know, which is very limited and totally unrelated to their behavior or their crimes, and we want to do it in public,” Hillary Clinton said.

Bill Clinton, however, has emerged as a top target for Republicans amid the political struggle over who receives the most scrutiny for their ties to Epstein. Several photos of the former president were included in the first tranche of Epstein files released by the Department of Justice in January, including a number of him with women whose faces were redacted. Clinton has not been accused of wrongdoing in his relationship with Epstein.

Comer has also pointed to Hillary Clinton’s work as secretary of state to address sex trafficking as another reason to insist on her deposition. The committee’s investigation has sought to understand why the Department of Justice under previous presidential administrations did not seek further charges against Epstein following a 2008 arrangement in which he pleaded guilty to state charges in Florida for soliciting prostitution from an underage girl but avoided federal charges.

Yet conspiracy theories, especially on the right, have swirled for years around the Clintons and their connections to Epstein and Maxwell, who argues she was wrongfully convicted. Republicans have long wanted to press the Clintons for answers.

“I mean if you’re the wife of Bill Clinton, aren’t you going to have some questions about your husband’s activities?” said Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., a member of the House Oversight Committee. “We only go where the facts take us. We didn’t put the president and the secretary in this position. They put themselves in it.”

Democrats, now being led by a new generation of politicians, have prioritized transparency around Epstein over defending the former leaders of their party. Several Democratic lawmakers joined with Republicans on the Oversight panel to advance the contempt of Congress charges against the Clintons last month. Several said they had no relationship with the Clintons and owed no loyalty to them.

Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the Oversight panel, said that both Republican and Democratic administrations “have failed survivors in not getting more information out to the public.” He also said he wanted to ask about Epstein’s possible ties to foreign governments.

Democrats are also coming off an effort this week to confront Trump about his administration’s handling of the Epstein files by taking women who survived Epstein’s abuse as their guests to Trump’s State of the Union address. Even senior Democrats, such as former Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, said it was appropriate for the committee to interview anyone, including the former president, who was connected to Epstein.

“We want to hear from everyone,” Pelosi said, adding that she did not see why Hillary Clinton was being interviewed and that it was important to “believe survivors.”

Groves writes for the Associated Press.

AS an ignorant southerner, I barely believed the idyllic world I had seen on TV of Cumbria’s lakes, valleys and mountains could truly exist here in Britain.

And even as I gazed across the shimmering Ullswater lake, with the sun setting over the trees, I had to pinch myself.

I was so mesmerised I even tried to get the kids (aged five and seven) to stop fighting with sticks to take in the view with me. It didn’t work.

Even if it was a slightly different holiday to the one we’d taken in 2017BK (Before Kids), the 328-mile journey from East Sussex to the Lake District sure was worth it.

The drive even felt like part of the adventure, travelling in Skoda’s fully electric 2025 Elroq SportLine 85, complete with heated seats.

We only needed to stop to charge once, which gave us a welcome coffee and toilet break.

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Forty minutes and about £40 later we were off again, weaving past rolling hills, dry stone walls and flocks of curious sheep.

Our home for the next few nights was a cottage in picturesque Sedbergh, on the border of the Lakes and Yorkshire Dales.

Our home for the next few nights was a cottage in picturesque Sedbergh, on the border of the Lakes and Yorkshire Dales.

Known as England’s official “Book Town”, thanks to the high number of book shops here, its Emmerdale-esque scenery inspired my first attempt to get my children to “just look at the views”.

But like all later efforts to get them to marvel at, arguably, Britain’s greatest natural landscapes, it failed miserably.

I was told by my son that “I don’t really do views, I prefer doing things, like knee slides”.

Fair enough, and luckily for him there was plenty to keep him and his sister happy other than the scenery.

There’s lots for adults too, not least the food.

Cumbria claims to have the most Michelin stars outside of London, but my partner and I left the fine dining for a trip without youngsters.

Cumbria claims to have the most Michelin stars outside of London, but my partner and I left the fine dining for a trip without youngsters.

Instead, we spoiled ourselves in top-notch pubs, enjoying delicious, hearty grub.

Our local, The Dalesman, dished up beautiful pies by a roaring fire.

And the nearby Black Bull cooked up a stupendous full English and the biggest bacon sandwich I’ve ever seen, setting us up nicely for a day exploring.

Choosing where to eat is almost as important as picking which lake or waterfall to visit.

But while the Elroq features a smart windscreen display and huge navigation screen, I didn’t find cruising around narrow country lanes on a dark night that much fun.

They didn’t waste a penny on tarmac when they built the roads.

So we were lucky the 17th century Punch Bowl Inn in Crosthwaite was nearby and that its renowned cheese souffle lived up to the billing.

We also made use of the brilliant local produce by raiding the nearby Meat Hook butchers for fire-side steak and sausages at home.

While our electric Skoda may be the future of travel, we still enjoyed heading back in time with an unmissable trip on the steam train from Haverthwaite to Lakeside.

It is a great way to see some of the area and we combined it with a boat ride up the mighty Lake Windermere to Bowness where, once again, the views are jaw-dropping.

Bustling Bowness boasts a huge choice of pubs and shops, but we spent the afternoon in the magical, and reasonably priced, World Of Beatrix Potter Attraction.

As well as a Peter Rabbit cafe selling home-made cakes and afternoon tea, there is a free activity trail and interactive videos showing yet more cracking Lake District views, except on a screen.

The kids loved completing the puzzles about Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddle-Duck and Co.

And while that kept their little minds entertained, the best way to burn off energy was climbing through the trees and adventure playgrounds of Brookhole on Windermere.

There, you can brave tree-top adventures in Zip World, try axe-throwing or take a boat out on the lake, among other activities.

We left there with the kids suitably exhausted and ready for an eight-hour drive home.

Luckily, they slept the entire way, tucked up in the back of the car, while I soaked up the last of those views.

MYSTERY DNA found inside Nancy Guthrie’s home does not belong to anyone “close” to her, it has been confirmed.

The unidentified DNA, which was found on the missing 84-year-old woman’s Tucson, Arizona, property is a focus of the investigation, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said.

Despite the breakthrough, the sheriff issued a devastating update on the case.

He did not explain where the DNA was found in the home.

Questioned on whether authorities believe they are close to finding Guthrie, Nanos said: “Some of these cases take months, some take years.”

Guthrie, the mom of “Today” show anchor Savannah Guthrie, has been missing since February 1.

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Authorities are currently working with their contracted forensic lab in Florida to analyse the biological evidence.

Nanos pushed back on criticism over evidence handling, saying the decision to send biological evidence to the Florida lab reflects long-standing procedures.

Local investigators have been accused of blocking the FBI from accessing key physical evidence.

Nanos also clarified that a glove believed to be potential evidence was not found at Guthrie’s home but discovered about two miles away.

Despite the ongoing investigation, Nanos stressed the search remains a rescue effort.

“They all have hope and belief that this is a rescue mission”, he said.

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department has allegedly already spent around $200,000 on processing evidence with the Florida lab, with which the department contracts.

It comes after federal agents released new details about the suspect from the doorbell surveillance footage.

“This updated description will concentrate the public tips we are receiving,” investigators said after over 13,000 tips were called in since Guthrie went missing.

The terrifying footage captured an armed intruder wearing thick gloves, pacing around Nancy’s front porch the night she was taken and trying to disable her doorbell camera.

It fueled theories surrounding her disappearance, including whether the individual was acting alone.

Officials now say they are looking for a man who is around five-foot-nine-inches to five-foot-ten-inches with an average build.

He was seen in the footage wearing a black, 25-liter Ozark Hiker Pack backpack.

The reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction in the case has been increased from $50,000 to $100,000.

Investigators have also issued a request for neighbors to send in any footage they have from the area from 9pm to midnight on January 11, and from 9:30am to 11am on January 31.

Meanwhile, the man spotted in a second doorbell video, who was also wearing a backpack and appeared to be trying a locked gate five miles from Nancy’s house, has been cleared of involvement in the case.

The clip that was obtained by TMZ, was taken around 1:50am around the time the masked intruder was filmed at Guthrie’s home.

He was filmed throwing a second backpack over a brick wall and investigators were seeking him for questioning.

However, he has since been ruled out of the investigation, two officials close to the matter told NBC News.

The four-mile trail from the village of Haworth to Top Withens in West Yorkshire is well trodden; numerous footprints squelched into the boggy ground by those seeking the view said to have inspired the setting for Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel Wuthering Heights. The landscape rolls in desolate waves of brown bracken. A lone tree punctuates the scene. It’s bleakly, hauntingly beautiful.

With the release of Emerald Fennell’s new film of the Gothic masterpiece starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi next week, Haworth and many of the filming locations in the Yorkshire Dales national park, where the book is set, are braced for a slew of visitors.

The local residents, though, seem distinctly unfazed by the attention.

“We’re used to crowds,” shrugs Craig Verity, the landlord at the Kings Arms, a pub at the top of Haworth’s steep cobbled Main Street, just steps from the parsonage where the Brontës were raised.

Brontë country has been milking the connection for decades. On a wall in the Kings Arms, a board promotes a selection of Bridgehouse cask ales named Charlotte, Anne, Emily and Branwell, the latter being the lesser-known Brontë brother.

In the surrounding streets, there’s the Brontë Hotel and the Brontë Bar and Restaurant, as well as – somewhat tenuously – Brontë Balti.

The Brontë Parsonage, where the sisters lived, wrote and – in Emily and Charlotte’s case – died, is now a museum housing artefacts, personal items and manuscripts, as well as hosting events such as workshops, talks and screenings of adaptations of the books. It draws around 75,000 visitors annually, a number almost sure to rise this year; a screening of 1992’s Wuthering Heights planned for 12 February has already sold out.

Scenes from this version, starring Ralph Fiennes and Juliet Binoche, were filmed at East Riddlesden Hall, about five miles from Haworth. The exterior of the 17th-century National Trust property also featured in the 2009 mini-series as Wuthering Heights itself, as well as in the now-lost 1920 silent version.

The 1939 Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon film was shot in California and on set in Hollywood.

“We only know about the use of the property because of a January 1921 article in the Shipley Times and Express,” said Sophie Fawcett, a senior marketing and communications officer with the National Trust.

Coinciding with the release of Fennell’s new adaptation, East Riddlesden Hall will be holding a Lights, Camera, Brontë exhibition, which will showcase, for instance, the “vast oak dresser” thought to have inspired the one described in the opening pages of the book. It came originally from Ponden Hall – about an hour’s walk from Haworth and now a bed and breakfast – to which the sisters were frequent visitors.

One room here features a box bed and window, likely to have inspired the scene in which the ghost of Cathy appears to a terrified Lockwood.

For this new film, the cast stayed at Simonstone Hall, a sumptuous country house hotel in Yorkshire Dales. It’s a 20-minute drive from here to Swaledale, where many of the scenes were shot.

“They were lovely people, and brilliantly undemanding,” said the owner, Jake Dinsdale, noting that Robbie had since been back for a stay with her husband. “Although they’d booked out all 20 rooms, our restaurant was still open to the public, and the cast enjoyed being around the firepit to toast s’mores, or sitting down to a roast dinner or afternoon tea.”

His own attitude is equally relaxed. “I don’t know what the film will do,” he said. “It could all be a flash in the pan, and that’s fine. If it sticks, that’s also great. What I do know is that I won’t be renaming any rooms as ‘The Jacob Elordi Room’ or ‘The Heathcliff Room’.

“Commercial naffness isn’t for us – I’ll just be happy if guests understand why so many people love the Yorkshire Dales.”

In the meantime, Simonstone Hall is offering a Wuthering Heights Romantic Getaway package until 13 March: two nights for £738 per couple, including champagne on arrival, candlelit dinners, bedtime brandy and truffles, leisurely breakfasts and late checkout. Copies of the novel are also available in the gift shop.

Tony Watson, head of economy and tourism for North Yorkshire council, said: “The area has featured in so many films and series; we’re experienced in managing that. Post-Covid, we were already seeing more younger people getting outdoors and exploring the county, and this demographic will doubtless grow as the film showcases the area’s beauty and authenticity.

“We’ll have to wait until the release to see whether there’s some iconic shot that people want to replicate. If there is, hopefully it will be somewhere like Aysgarth Falls, which has all of the necessary infrastructure in place – otherwise, we’ll need to suggest alternatives that don’t make mountain rescue unhappy.”

Back at The Kings Arms, Jack Greatrex, who lives in the area, is sanguine. “The Brontë sisters shaped this village for future generations, and for lovers of landscape and literature,” he said. “This film could mean that they continue to do so.”

Whatever effect the new film has, said Watson, they’re ready for it. “I’m the luckiest head of tourism imaginable – the film is going to do my job for me.”

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Lauren Betts overcame early foul trouble to score 23 points and pull down nine rebounds, leading No. 2 UCLA to an 80-67 win Wednesday night over Illinois.

Betts, the Bruins’ 6-foot-7 AP All-American center, picked up her second and third fouls — the latter on a technical foul — with 1:29 left in the first quarter.

She sat out the rest of the first quarter and the second quarter, returned to the court after halftime, and ended up playing nearly 24 minutes. She had just six points at halftime.

Angela Dugalic scored 12 points for UCLA (20-1, 10-0 Big Ten), which won its 14th straight. Gabriela Jaquez had 11, and Kiki Rice, Gianna Kneepkens and Sienna Betts — Lauren’s sister — each added 10.

Cearah Parchment had a career-high 26 points and seven rebounds for Illinois (15-6, 5-5) before fouling out with 36 seconds left. She was 10 of 13 from the field.

Destiny Jackson had 15 points and six assists, Maddie Webber scored 12 points and Berry Wallace had 11 for the Illini.

Illinois, which played without injured Gretchen Dolan, has lost five of seven after an 11-game winning streak.

UCLA led 45-31 at halftime. Illinois cut the lead to five points twice in the third quarter, but didn’t get any closer.

The Bruins won despite making just one three-pointer, going one of 10 from distance. They had 48 points in the paint to Illinois’ 24 and also doubled the Illini in bench points, 24-12.

UCLA hasn’t lost since it fell 76-65 to No. 4 Texas on Nov. 26 in Las Vegas.

In the 10 games before facing Illinois, the Bruins beat their opponents by an average of nearly 40 points and scored an average of more than 91 points a game.