Former President Bill Clinton and Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are set to appear for deposition this week as part of a House investigation into convicted sex predator Jeffrey Epstein.
Hillary Clinton’s deposition is scheduled for Feb. 26, and Bill Clinton’s is scheduled for the day after. Both depositions follow the release of millions of documents related to Epstein by the Department of Justice that have led to a string of high-profile investigations, resignations and other ripple effects in multiple countries.
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Read more: Members of Congress Accuse the DOJ of Spying on Lawmakers’ Epstein Files Searches
Both Clintons agreed to testify after a drawn-out fight over a congressional subpoena, as House Republicans were setting up a floor vote on Feb. 4 to hold both of them in contempt, which could have resulted in up to 12 months of prison time. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer of Kentucky hailed the victory in a statement, vowing to deliver “transparency and accountability for the American people and for survivors.”
Aside from the Clintons, four other people have been subpoenaed to testify following the release of the Epstein files. In the past few weeks, Ghislaine Maxwell and billionaire Les Wexner have testified before the committee regarding their ties to Epstein. Epstein’s longtime accountant Richard Kahn and Epstein’s personal lawyer Darren Indyke will also testify after receiving subpoenas.
Here are things you need to know ahead of their depositions.
Why were Bill and Hillary Clintons deposed?
The Clintons had political and personal connections to Epstein going back decades. FEC filings show that Bill and Hillary Clinton both benefitted from his political donations back in the 1990s. Visitor logs obtained by the Daily Mail showed Epstein made 17 trips to the White House during the Clinton administration. In 2006, the Clinton Foundation received a $25,000 donation from Epstein’s non-profit organization C.O.U.Q., the Daily Beast reported.
After leaving the White House, Bill Clinton’s relationship with Epstein was centered around the former president’s charity work. One of the key targets of the House Republicans’ investigation is the former president’s use of Epstein’s private planes. According to Bill Clinton’s spokesperson, the former President took four international trips on Epstein’s plane for the foundation’s charity works, had one meeting with Epstein in New York, and denied any wrongdoings.
Bill Clinton’s name and photos have also appeared in multiple batches of Epstein files released by the Department of Justice, along with those of several other high-profile people with ties to Epstein.
Is Hillary Clinton in the Epstein files?
There is nothing in the Epstein files that establish a link between the former secretary of state and Epstein. Since the first criminal investigation into Epstein began in 2005, no victim has accused Hillary Clinton of any wrongdoing. In an BBC interview, Clinton said she has never met or spoke to Epstein but admitted she had met Ghislaine Maxwell “on a few occasions.”
In a statement in December, Hillary Clinton’s spokesperson Nick Merrill told NBC News, “Since this started, we’ve been asking what the hell Hillary Clinton has to do with this, and [Comer] hasn’t been able to come up with an answer.”
The Clintons spokesperson Angel Urena said in a statement in early February that they agreed to testify but the Oversight Committee did not negotiate in good faith.
“We will show up, but we think it would be better to have it in public because what we want is for everybody to get to the facts about this. We have nothing to hide,” Hillary Clinton said.
How have Democrats responded to the plan to depose the Clintons?
While some House Republicans say the Clintons’ testimony is critical to understanding Epstein’s network, how he sought to curry favor to shield himself from legal scrutiny, some Democrats have criticized the effort to depose the Clintons as a “one-sided political hit job.”
“It’s interesting that it’s this subpoena only that Republicans and the Chairman [of the committee] have been obsessed about putting all the energy behind,” said Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat of the committee. He also added that Attorney General Pam Bondi should be held in contempt for not releasing all the Epstein files.
Why did it take so long for the Clintons to agree to testify?
The Clintons spent months declining to testify before Congress despite a congressional subpoena issued by Comer. The depositions for the Clintons were originally scheduled in October, then it was postponed twice to January this year.
After failing to show up on Jan 13 and 14, the Clintons offered Comer to come to New York for a private interview with the former president without an official transcript, and the questions would only be limited to the Epstein investigations. Comer declined the offer and called it “ridiculous” and “untenable.”
Bill Clinton’s spokesperson Angel Ureña disputed this claim, saying that Comer rejected the offer because he would not limit the scope of the questions to the Epstein’s investigation, and that the Clintons never said no to a transcript.
Has Congress ever deposed a former president or his spouse before?
The Clintons appearance in Congress marks the first time a former president has been deposed by Congress since 1983, when President Gerald R. Ford sat before Congress to discuss the celebration of the bicentennial anniversary of the Constitution.
Some Democrats see this move as setting a precedent of Congress being able to depose former presidents, which could open doors to deposing Trump and his family after he leaves the White House.
“There’s no question that Oversight Democrats will want to speak to Donald Trump and others,” Robert Garcia, the top Democrat of the Oversight Committee, told the New York Times.
Are the depositions going to be public?
The depositions will be held behind closed doors, but they will be transcribed and filmed, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer said in a statement. A committee spokesperson confirmed that the deposition videos and transcripts will be made public.
Since agreeing to testify, the Clintons have been pushing for a public hearing. Hillary Clinton wrote to Comer on social media earlier this month that “If you want this fight…let’s have it—in public.” So far, the committee has not changed its decision.
Comer has said he is open to the idea of having public hearings, but insists that a public hearing can only happen after the closed-door depositions.
“Hearings are more for entertainment than substance, unfortunately,” Comer said in an interview on NEWSMAX on Feb 6. “My job isn’t to entertain people. My job is to get the truth to the American people.”