The House of Representatives has finally locked in testimony dates for Bill and Hillary Clinton in its Jeffrey Epstein investigation, following months of stonewalling and the threat of contempt of Congress.
According to the Washington Free Beacon, House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer (R., Ky.) announced that Bill Clinton will sit for a deposition on February 27, with Hillary Clinton scheduled for February 26. House Republicans had imposed a noon deadline for the couple to accept transcribed and videotaped depositions with no time limits, making clear that refusal would trigger a contempt vote.
"Once it became clear that the House of Representatives would hold them in contempt, the Clintons completely CAVED and will appear for transcribed depositions this month," Comer said on Tuesday. "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."
The Clintons abrupt reversal marks a stark departure from their posture just weeks ago, when they dismissed the probe as illegitimate and partisan. In a January 13 joint letter to Comer, provided to the New York Times, the couple insisted, "There is no plausible explanation for what you are doing other than partisan politics."
That letter attempted to frame the investigation within a broader narrative about the current political climate, invoking President Donald Trumps border enforcement policies and the events of January 6, 2021. "This past year has seen our Government engage in unprecedented acts, including against our own citizens. People have been seized from their homes, their workplaces, and the streets of their communities. The people who laid siege to the U.S. Capitol have been pardoned and called heroes," the Clintons wrote.
The House issued subpoenas to the Clintons in August, but the pair repeatedly stalled, pushing the matter off until January before flatly declaring they would not cooperate, despite the risk of criminal referral to the Department of Justice. Under the Biden administration, Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon each received four-month prison sentences after the House voted to hold them in contempt for refusing to testify, underscoring the potential legal peril the Clintons faced.
Politico reported that multiple Democrats were likely to support a contempt resolution, a rare break in partisan ranks that would have intensified pressure on the couple. In their defiant January letter, the Clintons cast their resistance in almost revolutionary terms, writing, "Every person has to decide when they have seen or had enough and are ready to fight for this country, its principles and its people, no matter the consequences," and adding, "For us, now is that time."
Their subsequent capitulation, however, suggests that when confronted with the same legal standards applied to Trump allies, the Clintons opted to avoid the consequences they once claimed to welcome. With sworn, unrestricted depositions now on the calendar, House Republicans are poised to test whether the rule of law will reach political figures long shielded by the Democratic establishment and a friendly media, or whether this will become another episode where accountability is promised but never fully delivered.
Login