WASHINGTON- For the first time in more than 40 years, a former president will appeal directly to Congress to defend himself against criminal charges.
Former President Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will testify before the House Oversight Committee this week in its investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplices.
The pair agreed to appear after a contentious exchange with committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.), who accused them of resisting congressional oversight and withholding information about their ties to Epstein and convicted co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell in earlier testimony. Both denied any wrongdoing and accused Comer of running a politically motivated “kangaroo court” designed to keep them in the news and divert them from President Trump's ties to the notorious sex offender.
“They negotiated in good faith. You did not,” Clinton spokesman Angel Ureña said in a statement, referring to Comer. “They told you under oath what they know, but you don't care. But the former President and the former Secretary of State will be there. They hope to set a precedent that applies to everyone.”
Hillary Clinton will appear on Thursday and the former president is due to appear the next day. The closed-door statement will be recorded and the video will be published later.
How do we get here?
Bill Clinton has said he had “no idea of the crimes” Epstein was committing and only learned about it through media reports. The former president took four trips on Epstein's private jet between 2002 and 2003, which included trips for work related to the Clinton Foundation, a Clinton spokesperson confirmed in 2019.
He is expected to face questions about a series of photographs released by the Justice Department, one of which appears to show the former president in a hot tub with Epstein and a woman whose face is redacted. Congress recently gained access to records related to the Justice Department's Epstein investigation after lawmakers forced the unredacted release of the files in late December.
“The Clintons' testimony is critical to understanding Epstein's sex trafficking ring and the ways in which they attempted to gain favor and influence to protect themselves from scrutiny,” Comer said at a committee meeting last week.
Hillary Clinton maintains she never met Epstein, but says she met Maxwell “many years ago.” In an interview with the BBC last week, he detailed his objections to the Justice Department's handling of the investigation.
“They're moving slowly, they're redacting the names of the men involved in it, they're stonewalling legitimate requests from members of Congress,” he said, calling the department's investigation a “cover-up.”
The two maintain that Republicans are using the high-profile interview to draw attention to the allegations leveled against the president and the Justice Department's handling of the investigation.
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach) on Tuesday accused the department of violating both the House Oversight Committee subpoena and the Epstein Records Transparency Act when it withheld files related to allegations that Trump sexually abused a minor. Garcia was allowed to review unredacted evidence records and said the Justice Department “appears to have illegally withheld FBI interviews with this survivor who accused President Trump of heinous crimes.”
“To be clear, the claims are baseless and false and, if they have any shred of credibility, would certainly have already been used as a weapon against Trump,” the Justice Department said in December.
Trump has denied wrongdoing regarding Epstein.
Consequences for the main actors
The interviews come as British police last week arrested Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former prince, the highest-profile person so far caught up in the unfolding saga.
The consequences have been serious in Europe, where former Norwegian Prime Minister Thorbjorn Jagland was accused of “flagrant corruption.” In the United Kingdom, Peter Mandelson, the former British ambassador to the United States, was expelled from the House of Lords before being arrested on Monday.
The release of the files triggered a wave of resignations from business leaders over ties to Epstein and Maxwell, including Thomas Pritzker of Hyatt Hotels, Goldman Sachs lawyer and former Obama staffer Kathy Ruemmler, and DP World CEO Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem.
In the United States, Democrats are lamenting what they see as the Justice Department withholding crucial case files (50% by some estimates) and delaying investigations into American elites, including some of the president's close associates.
“More than two dozen people have resigned — CEOs, members of governments around the world — but I have not seen any arrests or investigations here in the United States by this Department of Justice,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) said on the House floor Tuesday.
What comes next?
Regardless of what is revealed in their testimony, the Clintons could still face contempt charges from Congress for refusing to comply with prior committee subpoenas.
“The Clintons must be held accountable for their actions. And Democrats must support these measures, or they will be exposed as hypocrites,” Comer said at a committee meeting last week.
The former first couple hopes their appearance will set a precedent for Trump and other key names in the files to appear before Congress.
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Fremont and co-author of the legislation that forced the release of Epstein's files, remains hopeful that those who participated in Epstein's sexual abuse will be held accountable for their actions.
In an interview last week, Khanna said the arrest of former Prince Andrew is proof that it will happen. Khanna called it a “game changer.”
“This sets the standard for accountability,” he said. “I think we will see the elite of the Epstein class begin to fall both in the United States and around the world.”
