Bill, Hillary Clinton to testify in US House Epstein probe

• Bill and Hillary Clinton have agreed to testify before a House committee investigating the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, narrowly avoiding a contempt of Congress vote after initially refusing to appear in person.
• While Republicans argue the Clintons' past ties justify questioning under oath, Democrats claim the investigation is a "weaponized" attempt to target political opponents and distract from Donald Trump's own history with the deceased financier.

Bill and Hillary Clinton will testify in a US House investigation surrounding deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a spokesman for the ex-president said, heading off a potential vote to hold the couple in contempt.

They had originally refused to appear before lawmakers examining how authorities handled earlier investigations into the disgraced financier, who had connections and correspondence with the world’s business and political elite.

"The former President and former Secretary of State will be there. They look forward to setting a precedent that applies to everyone," Angel Urena said on X.

The House Rules Committee had advanced resolutions accusing the Clintons of defying subpoenas to appear in person to explain their links to Epstein, who died in custody in 2019.

The Epstein affair continues to cast a long shadow over Washington, entangling some of the most prominent names in US politics and highlighting the sharp partisan battles that have shaped the scandal.

Democrats say the probe is being weaponized to attack political opponents of President Donald Trump -- himself a longtime Epstein associate who has not been called to testify -- rather than to conduct legitimate oversight.

Trump spent months trying to block the disclosure of investigative files linked to Epstein, who moved in elite circles for years, cultivating ties with billionaires, politicians, academics and celebrities.

Democratic divisions

Neither Trump nor the Clintons have been accused of criminal wrongdoing related to Epstein's activities.

In letters where they initially refused to appear in Washington, the Clintons had argued that the subpoenas were invalid because they lacked a clear legislative purpose.

Republicans say the Democratic couple's past links to the business tycoon, including Bill Clinton's use of his private jet in the early 2000s, justify in‑person questioning under oath.

Instead, the couple submitted sworn written statements describing their knowledge of Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking.

Bill Clinton acknowledged flying on Epstein's plane for Clinton Foundation-related humanitarian work, but said he never visited his private island.

Hillary Clinton said she had no meaningful interactions with Epstein, never flew on his plane and never visited his island.

The contempt vote and its targeting of the Clintons could have exposed divisions among congressional Democrats.

Some Democrats have privately acknowledged that their party has long argued no one should be beyond scrutiny in efforts to uncover the full scope of Epstein's crimes.

But others feared that advancing the contempt resolutions would have played into a partisan strategy to shift attention away from Trump's past contacts with Epstein.

The Justice Department released last week what it said would be the final batch of files related to the investigation into Epstein.