Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are set to testify to the House Oversight Committee next week for its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, a committee spokeswoman said.
The depositions will be held in Chappaqua, New York, on Feb. 26 and 27, according to the spokeswoman. The Clintons have not been accused of any wrongdoing.
While most of the depositions the committee has held in connection with its probe into Epstein have taken place in Washington, the committee has made exceptions. Billionaire Les Wexner’s deposition took place at his estate in New Albany, Ohio, and Epstein co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell appeared virtually for her deposition from a federal prison camp in Texas.
The Clintons were originally set to testify before the committee last year, but that was postponed to accommodate their schedules. They became involved in a standoff with House Republicans after they refused to appear for rescheduled testimony before the committee this month.
The committee subpoenaed the Clintons in August, requesting testimony related to Epstein, along with several top former Justice Department officials, including former Attorneys General Merrick Garland, William Barr, Jeff Sessions, Eric Holder, Loretta Lynch and Alberto Gonzales and former FBI Directors James Comey and Robert Mueller.
The Clintons said they would comply with the subpoena after the committee voted to advance contempt resolutions against them to the House floor. Consideration of the resolution was suspended earlier this month after the Clintons said they would provide testimony.
The couple favored providing testimony at an open hearing and suggested Feb. 26 for Hillary Clinton's testimony and Feb. 27 for Bill Clinton's. Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., however, said at the time that the two had agreed to recorded depositions and “the rules of a standard deposition, so they’re not going to be treated any differently than anyone else.”
Spokespeople for the Clintons did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the scheduled depositions.
The Justice Department has released millions of pages of files related to Epstein since the Epstein Files Transparency Act passed. The first set it released late last year included pictures of Bill Clinton. At the time, Clinton’s spokesperson, Angel Ureña, said the former president flew on Epstein’s plane for Clinton Foundation trips in the early 2000s, before Epstein had been charged with any sex crimes.
Bill Clinton has denied any wrongdoing. He previously said he cut ties with Epstein before Epstein was accused in 2006 of having had sex with a minor.
Hillary Clinton’s spokesperson, Nick Merrill, said in a statement in December, “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.”
