Bill and Hillary Clinton have agreed to testify in person to a Republican congressional investigation into notorious pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, apparently ending their defiant campaign of resistance.
The former president and ex-secretary of state emailed staffers for the GOP-led House Oversight Committee saying they would accept GOP demands and “appear for depositions on mutually agreeable dates.”
The Democratic power couple asked that Rep. James Comer (R-Kentucky), the panel’s chair, halt contempt of congress proceedings against them, which could have led to criminal charges.
Comer agreed, though he told reporters, “It depends on what they say.”
The last-minute cave by the Clintons came as Republican leaders advanced the contempt resolution through the House Rules Committee, a final hurdle before it headed to the House floor for a vote. It would mark the first time Congress would hold a former president in contempt.
It wasn’t immediately clear when or where the Clintons might appear and whether any questioning will be made public.
The Clintons had for months fiercely resisted the subpoenas the panel issued for their testimony in an investigation into Epstein and his associates.
But they sought to forge a compromise after the committee advanced criminal contempt of Congress charges last month.
Significant Democratic support for the GOP push suggested the Clintons were facing a lopsided contempt vote in the full House, which may have forced their hand.
Bill Clinton’s relationship with Epstein has long been a talking point for Republicans as Trump faces intense scrutiny over his his own ties to the infamous pedophile who killed himself in 2019 in a New York jail cell as he faced sex trafficking charges.
Clinton, like Trump and many other high-powered men, admits to carrying on a chummy relationship with Epstein decades ago. Neither the current nor the former president has been credibly accused of wrongdoing.
Congress last year overwhelmingly passed a law that Trump sought to derail mandating full release of the criminal files. The Department of Justice has belatedly released millions of pages of documents, but critics say it is still seeking to cover up for Trump and his allies.
