Washington — Bill and Hillary Clinton agreed to testify in the House Oversight Committee’s investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, ahead of expected House votes this week on holding them 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.” The email, obtained by CBS News, asked the committee to confirm it would not proceed with contempt proceedings, as the chairman had stated earlier.
Rep. James Comer, the Republican chair of the oversight panel, said late Monday that while the Clintons’ counsel “has said they agree to terms, 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 committee subpoenaed the Clintons last year, but both called the subpoenas legally invalid and refused to appear. The panel, which is probing the Justice Department’s investigations into Epstein, recommended holding the Clintons in contempt in January. Both contempt resolutions advanced out of the committee with bipartisan support; more Democrats backed the resolution related to Bill Clinton, who has acknowledged past interactions with Epstein. Neither Clinton has been accused of wrongdoing in the Epstein case.
In a Jan. 31 letter to the committee, the Clintons’ lawyers proposed measures to avoid contempt votes: Bill Clinton would sit for a four-hour transcribed interview in New York City limited to matters related to Epstein investigations and prosecutions; Hillary Clinton would provide another sworn declaration answering remaining committee questions, with any required in-person testimony to follow the same terms as her husband’s. Their lawyers asked that subpoenas and contempt resolutions be withdrawn if those conditions were accepted.
Comer, replying earlier Monday, said the panel had “serious concerns” about that offer. He argued the proposed scope of Bill Clinton’s testimony was too narrow and “would result in your client answering few questions.” He called other demands “not reasonable” and “insufficient,” and said the terms proposed for Hillary Clinton’s declaration or appearance were unacceptable.
The offer from the Clintons was first reported to lawmakers by Democratic Rep. James Walkinshaw of Virginia during Monday night’s House Rules Committee meeting, which was expected to advance the contempt resolutions for floor votes. Walkinshaw told Comer that the Clintons had agreed to appear for depositions under the committee’s most recent terms. Comer said he was unaware of the email while testifying; a committee aide said the Clintons’ attorney had emailed the committee while Comer was on the stand.
Comer later told reporters, “There is no offer. They texted us and said they accept our offer. There is no offer. What do they accept? … They said they would accept my offer. They sent an offer, and I rejected their offer.”
Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, said the Clintons had accepted “every single request” from Republicans on testimony terms and urged Comer to provide dates. “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 said.
House Rules Committee Chairwoman Rep. Virginia Foxx, a Republican, said the panel would postpone further consideration of the contempt resolutions until it clarified “with the Clintons what they are actually agreeing to.” She warned the committee would resume the contempt hearing if there was not “substantial compliance and agreement overnight.”
The Oversight Committee subpoenaed the Clintons in August along with former Justice Department officials dating back to the George W. Bush administration. Since then, only former Attorney General Bill Barr has provided closed-door testimony; the panel accepted written statements from others. Comer has said those officials were treated differently because they were not photographed with Epstein or Ghislaine Maxwell, nor is there evidence they were directly involved in the investigation. The Clintons have accused Comer of seeking to embarrass them and punish political rivals.
The Justice Department last week released a large trove of Epstein-related files that mention a number of notable figures, including Bill Clinton and former President Donald Trump. Trump likewise has not been accused of wrongdoing in connection with the Epstein case.
Nikole Killion and Jaala Brown contributed to this report.