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Former US President Bill Clinton and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will testify in the congressional investigation into late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a staffer said.
The Republican-led House Oversight Committee last week recommended that the Clintons be held in contempt for refusing to testify about their relationship with Epstein, and several Democrats on the panel agreed. The Clintons have offered to cooperate with the panel but have declined to appear in person, saying the investigation is a partial exercise to protect Republican President Donald Trump.
The House of Representatives plans to hold the two prominent Democrats in contempt later this week, a finding that could lead to criminal charges. Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro, who served in Trump’s first administration, He served a short prison sentence in 2024 after refusing to appear before a House committee investigating Trump’s actions in connection with the January 6, 2021 riots at the Capitol.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, told Reuters on whether the House would proceed with contempt votes against the Clintons: “They’re working on it right now. The lawyers are looking at the details.”
Johnson welcomed the news that the former president and former secretary of state had agreed to testify.
The US Department of Justice has released thousands of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, with many redactions. Among the most prominent figures in this collection of material is former US President Bill Clinton, and few mentions of US President Donald Trump.
The U.S. Justice Department’s recent release of millions of internal documents related to Epstein has revealed the late financial and sex offender’s connections to prominent figures in politics, finance, academia and business, both before and after he pleaded guilty to prostitution charges in 2008.
It would have been. Unprecedented in our time For a former president to testify in Congress in such a dire situation. Harry Truman and Gerald Ford are the only former presidents to testify in Congress since World War II – Truman appeared to discuss the United Nations Charter and Ford to discuss the Bicentennial of the US Constitution.
Republicans want ‘political spectacle’: Democrat Sr
Like Trump, Bill Clinton is known to have flown on Epstein’s plane several times. He expressed regret about the relationship and said he knew nothing of Epstein’s criminal activities.
According to Clinton’s representatives, the former president They ended their relationship with Epstein after the first round of criminal charges in 2006. Epstein’s confidante, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is now in prison, attended Clinton’s daughter Chelsea’s wedding in 2010.
Former Secretary of State and 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said through a spokeswoman that she “can’t recall ever speaking to Epstein.”
Kentucky Republican James Comer, who chairs the oversight committee, did not give a date for Clinton’s statement on Monday and said he would discuss next steps with panel members.
“The Clintons’ counsel said they agreed to the deal, but the terms were still vague and they didn’t provide a date for their requests,” Comer said. “I will clarify the terms they agree to and then discuss next steps with my committee members.”
COmer earlier on Monday rejected requests from lawyers for Bill Clinton to do a transcribed interview and for Hillary Clinton to testify under oath.
U.S. Rep. Suhas Subramaniam, who released more than three million pages of the Epstein files, said Andrew Mountbatten Windsor had a close relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and is asking him to testify before the U.S. Congress. King Charles stripped his brother of his title in early November amid growing pressure over his relationship with Epstein.
Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries told ABC News that in his view, the Clintons offered good faith testimony, which was designed to embarrass and embarrass the couple.
“The idea that they are going after Secretary Clinton and Bill Clinton in criminal contempt – in other words, this is a ‘lockdown’ approach – seems completely against the law, if the purpose is really to try and create a political spectacle, as opposed to getting the information.” Jeffries told ABC News on Sunday..
Democrats also said that the Justice Department has not yet released all the material on the deceased’s finances, and the Republican leadership has not pressed this issue.