Clintons agree to testify to House Oversight Committee ahead of expected contempt vote

Washington — Bill and Hillary Clinton agreed to testify in the House Oversight Committee’s investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, ahead of expected votes in the House later this week on holding the pair in contempt of Congress. 

In an email to the committee on Monday, the Clintons’ legal team said the former president and former secretary of state “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,” said the email, which was obtained by CBS News.

Republican Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, who chairs the oversight panel, said in a statement late Monday: “The Clintons’ counsel has said they agree to terms, but those terms lack clarity yet again and they have provided no dates for their depositions. The only reason they have said they agree to terms is because the House has moved forward with contempt. I will clarify the terms they are agreeing to and then discuss next steps with my committee members.”

The House Oversight Committee subpoenaed the Clintons last year, but the pair called the subpoenas legally invalid and refused to appear before the panel, which is probing the Justice Department’s investigations into Epstein. The committee then recommended holding the Clintons in contempt in January.

Both contempt resolutions advanced out of the House Oversight Committee with bipartisan support, though more Democrats supported the one related to Bill Clinton, who has acknowledged previous interactions with Epstein.

Neither Clinton has been accused of any wrongdoing in the Epstein case.

In an effort to avoid the contempt of Congress votes, lawyers for the Clintons said in a Jan. 31 letter to the committee that the former president would agree to sit for a four-hour transcribed interview if it takes place in New York City and is “confined to matters related to the investigations and prosecutions” of Epstein. The former secretary of state would offer another sworn declaration to answer any questions the committee still has, the lawyers said. If the committee still requires her in-person testimony, her appearance should follow the same terms as her husband’s testimony, they said. 

The Clintons’ legal team asked that the subpoenas and contempt resolutions be withdrawn if the conditions were agreed to. 

Responding in a letter earlier Monday, Comer said the panel has “serious concerns” about the offer.

Comer argued the proposed scope of Bill Clinton’s testimony was too limited and “would result in your client answering few questions.” The other demands were “not reasonable” and “insufficient,” Comer said. Comer said the terms proposed for Hillary Clinton’s sworn declaration or appearance were also unacceptable. 

The news of the Clintons’ offer was first delivered by Democratic Rep. James Walkinshaw of Virginia during Monday night’s House Rules Committee meeting, which was expected to advance the contempt resolutions and tee them up for floor votes in the coming days. 

“I understand that the Clintons have agreed to appear for depositions and have agreed to the terms that you laid out in your most recent letter,” Walkinshaw told Comer as they both appeared before the committee. 

Comer said he was unaware of the news. The Clintons’ attorney had emailed the committee with the offer while Comer was testifying, according to a committee aide. 

Comer left the House Rules Committee, which briefly recessed for floor votes Monday, questioning the Clintons’ agreement. 

“There is no offer. They texted us and said they accept our offer. There is no offer,” he told reporters. “What do they accept? … They said they would accept my offer. They sent an offer, and I rejected their offer.” 

Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said the Clintons have now accepted “every single request” from Republicans on the terms of their testimony and urged Comer to respond with dates for their appearance. 

“We’re going to find out right now if Chairman Comer actually wants to hear from the Clintons, or this is all a political, partisan witch hunt by Donald Trump,” Garcia told reporters Monday night. 

GOP Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, the chairwoman of the House Rules Committee, said later Monday night that the panel would postpone further consideration of the contempt resolutions until it’s clarified “with the Clintons what they are actually agreeing to.” 

“However, should there not be substantial compliance and agreement overnight, the committee will return to continue the hearing on the contempt,” she said. 

The House Oversight Committee subpoenaed the Clintons in August, along with former Justice Department officials dating back to George W. Bush’s administration. Since then, only Bill Barr, who served as attorney general during President Trump’s first term, has provided closed-door testimony to the committee, while the panel has accepted written statements from the others. 

Comer has said the committee accepted statements from other former officials because they weren’t photographed with Epstein or his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, “nor is there any evidence that they were directly involved in the investigation.” 

The Clintons have accused Comer of treating them differently than other officials in an attempt to embarrass them and punish Mr. Trump’s political rivals. 

The Justice Department released a massive trove of Epstein files last week that include mentions of a number of notable figures, including Bill Clinton and Mr. Trump. 

Mr. Trump has also not been accused of any wrongdoing as it relates to the Epstein case.