Former US President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton agreed late Monday to testify before the House Oversight Committee as part of its investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, though the Republican chair leading the probe said a final agreement had yet to be secured.
Rep. James Comer, chair of the House Oversight Committee, said negotiations were still incomplete even after attorneys for the Clintons informed committee staff that both would comply with the subpoenas, Associated Press reported.
The development came as Comer was moving forward with criminal contempt of Congress charges against the former president and former secretary of state for previously defying the panel’s demand.
According to the email sent by the Clintons’ attorneys, the two “will appear for depositions on mutually agreeable dates” and were willing to accept Comer’s terms. The attorneys also requested that the Kentucky Republican halt the contempt proceedings.
Comer declined to immediately do so, noting that no formal agreement had been documented. “We don’t have anything in writing,” he told reporters, adding that while he was open to the offer, “it depends on what they say.”
The negotiations unfolded as Republican leaders advanced the contempt resolution through the House Rules Committee, the final step before a vote by the full House. If approved and prosecuted by the Department of Justice, the charges could carry the possibility of substantial fines and even incarceration.
The moment marked a potentially unprecedented step for Congress, as it would be the first time the House moved to hold a former president in criminal contempt.
Earlier on Monday, Comer rejected a proposal from the Clintons’ legal team that would have allowed Bill Clinton to participate in a transcribed interview and Hillary Clinton to submit a sworn declaration. Comer insisted that both must appear for sworn depositions to fully comply with the subpoenas.
A letter from the committee to the Clintons’ attorneys outlined that the former president had been offered a four-hour transcribed interview on “matters related to the investigations and prosecutions of Jeffrey Epstein,” while the former secretary of state would submit a sworn declaration, AP reported.
“The Clintons do not get to dictate the terms of lawful subpoenas,” Comer said.
The Oversight Committee issued subpoenas in August after opening its investigation into Epstein and his associates. The Clintons resisted the subpoenas for months, with their attorneys challenging their validity.
As Comer escalated toward contempt proceedings, negotiations resumed. The Republican-led committee advanced criminal contempt charges last month, with nine of its 21 Democrats joining Republicans in supporting the measure against Bill Clinton. Three Democrats also backed advancing the charges against Hillary Clinton, citing the need for transparency in the Epstein investigation.
The Clintons’ representatives accused Comer of politicising the investigation. Angel Ureña, a spokesperson for the Clintons, responded sharply to the chair’s actions.
“They negotiated in good faith. You did not,” Ureña said. “They told you under oath what they know, but you don’t care.”
The Clintons have also criticised Comer for what they describe as a failure to hold the Trump administration accountable for delays in releasing the Department of Justice’s Epstein case files, while continuing to pursue contempt proceedings against them.
Bill Clinton’s past association with Epstein has again drawn scrutiny amid renewed Republican efforts to examine the late financier’s network. Epstein died by suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
Clinton’s interactions with Epstein during the late 1990s and early 2000s have been well documented, though he has not been accused of wrongdoing.
