The Clintons agree to testify in House Epstein investigation ahead of contempt of Congress vote

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Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have agreed late on Monday to testify in a US House of Representatives investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein ahead of a contempt of Congress vote.

Republican Congressman James Comer, who leads the House Oversight Committee, continued to press for contempt of Congress charges against both Clintons on Monday evening for defying a Congressional subpoenas.

Attorneys for the Clintons emailed staff on the Oversight panel saying the pair would accept Comer’s demands and “will appear for depositions on mutually agreeable dates”.

The attorneys however requested that Comer agree not to move forward with the contempt proceedings in exchange for their compliance. The Kentucky Republican however noted that was not immediately dropping charges, detailing that an agreement has yet to be finalised.

The contempt charges could carry a substantial fine or even incarceration for the Clintons if passed by the House and successfully prosecuted by the US Justice Department.

“We don’t have anything in writing,” Comer told reporters, adding that he was open to accepting the Clintons’ offer but “it depends on what they say.”

The last minute negotiations came as House Republicans prepared to advance the contempt resolution through the House Rules Committee, a final hurdle before it headed to the House floor for a vote, in what could be a first for Congress; holding a former president in contempt and advancing the threat of prison time.

FILE – Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton listen as VP Kamala Harris delivers a eulogy in Houston, Texas, Aug. 1, 2024

As Comer and the Clintons negotiated over the terms of the depositions, the House Rules Committee postponed advancing the contempt of Congress resolutions.

Earlier on Monday, Comer rejected the Clintons’ attorneys offer of having Bill conduct a four-hour transcribed interview and Hillary submit a sworn declaration, insisting that both sit for sworn depositions in order to fulfil the panel’s subpoena orders.

“The Clintons do not get to dictate the terms of lawful subpoenas,” said Comer.

The former president and secretary of state had resisted the subpoenas for months after the Oversight panel issued subpoenas for their testimony in August as it opened an investigation into Epstein and his associates. Their attorneys had tried to argue against the validity of the subpoena.

However, as Comer threatened to begin contempt of Congress proceedings, the Clintons started negotiating towards a compromise. The Republican-controlled Oversight committee advanced criminal contempt of Congress charges last month.

Nine of the committee’s 21 Democrats joined Republicans in support of the charges against Bill Clinton as they argued for full transparency in the Epstein investigation. Three Democrats also supported advancing the charges against Hillary Clinton.

Bill Clinton’s relationship with Epstein has reemerged as a focal point for Republicans amid the push for a reckoning over Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 in a New York jail cell as he awaited trial over sex trafficking charges.

Clinton was among a slew of other high-powered men who had a well-documented relationship with Epstein in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He has not been accused of wrongdoing in his interactions with the late disgraced financier.

The Clintons have remained highly critical of Comer’s decision, saying he was politicising the investigation while failing to hold the Trump administration accountable for delays in producing the Department of Justice’s case files on Epstein.