After months of lawyerly jousting and slow-walking, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will sit for filmed, closed-door, transcribed depositions before the House Oversight Committee at the end of this month.
Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., says Hillary Clinton will appear Feb. 26, with Bill Clinton following Feb. 27, under the same terms. Both sessions will be recorded, Comer’s statement said.
This is the part of Washington where the calendar becomes a weapon. For weeks, the former first couple and the GOP-led committee haggled over whether they would testify, where, and on what conditions, as the committee pressed forward in its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and the government’s handling of his case.
Then the cliff edge appeared.
Both Clintons were facing House contempt votes this week if they didn’t agree to in-person interviews. And those votes looked like they would pass.
Late last month, nine Democrats on the Oversight Committee joined all Republicans in advancing Bill Clinton’s contempt resolution to a full House vote. Three Democrats voted to advance the contempt resolution against Hillary Clinton.
A House contempt vote would refer them to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution. A contempt of Congress conviction is a misdemeanor carrying a maximum $100,000 fine and up to a year in jail.
Comer framed the shift as capitulation under pressure.
“Republicans and Democrats on the Oversight Committee have been clear: no one is above the law — and that includes the Clintons. After delaying and defying duly issued subpoenas for six months, the House Oversight Committee moved swiftly to initiate contempt of Congress proceedings in response to their non-compliance,” Comer said.
“Once it became clear that the House of Representatives would hold them in contempt, the Clintons completely caved and will appear for transcribed, filmed depositions this month. We look forward to questioning the Clintons as part of our investigation into the horrific crimes of Epstein and Maxwell, to deliver transparency and accountability for the American people and for survivors.”
The Clintons are two of 10 people subpoenaed as part of the Oversight probe. So far, only two—former Attorney General Bill Barr and former Labor Secretary Alex Acosta—have appeared in person.
The Clintons’ attorneys have tried to draw a line around the committee’s power. In a letter last month, they called Comer’s subpoenas legally invalid, arguing they violate separation of powers and lack a valid legislative purpose.
“President and Secretary Clinton have already provided the limited information they possess about Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell to the Committee. They did so proactively and voluntarily, and despite the fact that the Subpoenas are invalid and legally unenforceable, untethered to a valid legislative purpose, unwarranted because they do not seek pertinent information, and an unprecedented infringement on the separation of powers,” the letter said.
The committee rejected those claims. Negotiations dragged. Comer twice rejected offers for himself and Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the committee’s top Democrat, to travel to New York with limited staff to interview Bill Clinton.
Democrats, meanwhile, accused Comer of using contempt threats for politics rather than truth—arguing it was more about spectacle than closure for victims.
Bill Clinton’s past association with Epstein has long hovered over this story. He is among many high-profile names in files being released by the DOJ on the late sex offender. But the article notes there has been no implication of wrongdoing by either Clinton related to Epstein.
Still, Washington doesn’t run on what’s proven. It runs on what’s pursued—and what can be made to look like a retreat.
With the contempt vote looming, the Clintons’ attorneys wrote to the committee Monday: “[M]y clients accept the terms of your letter and will appear for depositions on mutually agreeable dates. As has been the Committee’s practice, please confirm the House will not move forward with contempt proceedings, as the Chairman stated in his letter this morning.”
In this town, you don’t have to say “uncle.” You just have to show up.
