As former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton negotiated with Republican lawmakers over how they would respond to a House subpoena tied to the Epstein investigation, the showdown sharpened into a last-minute question of timing, documentation, and congressional enforcement.
According to the Associated Press, the Clintons “agreed late Monday to testify” in the House Oversight Committee’s investigation, but Rep. James Comer said the arrangement was not finalized. Comer continued pressing for criminal contempt of Congress charges as the negotiation unfolded, framing the dispute around whether the committee would receive testimony in a form and schedule the subpoenas required.
Comer told reporters that there was “nothing in writing,” and he said he was open to accepting the Clintons’ offer but that “it depends on what they say.” He made that point while the House Rules Committee was considering the next procedural step for the contempt resolutions, according to the AP report.
The negotiating posture described by AP centered on an exchange from the Clintons’ attorneys to Oversight staff. The attorneys emailed that the Clintons would “accept Comer’s demands,” and the message added that the Clintons “will appear for depositions on mutually agreeable dates,” the AP said.
AP reported that the Clintons’ side also sought to prevent the committee from moving forward with contempt proceedings. Comer, however, said he was not immediately dropping the charges and noted the legal stakes if the House and then the Justice Department pursued the case—an outcome that could carry substantial fines and the prospect of incarceration, according to the AP report.
The episode came as Republican leaders were advancing the contempt resolution through the House Rules Committee, which AP described as “a final hurdle” before the matter could go to the House floor for a vote. But AP reported that as Comer and the Clintons negotiated over deposition terms, the Rules Committee postponed advancing the contempt resolutions.
Earlier Monday, Comer rejected an alternative proposal from the Clintons’ attorneys that would have allowed Bill Clinton to give a four-hour transcribed interview and Hillary Clinton to submit a sworn declaration. Comer insisted that both Clintons sit for sworn depositions before the committee, AP said, adding that a letter from the committee indicated the specific alternative the Clintons offered and the committee’s position on what it required.
The broader dispute traces to the committee’s subpoenas issued in August. AP said the Clintons had resisted those subpoenas for months and had tried to argue against their validity. The negotiation began to intensify after Comer threatened to begin contempt of Congress proceedings, with AP also reporting that the Oversight committee advanced criminal contempt charges last month, with some Democrats joining Republicans in supporting charges against Bill Clinton and with others supporting charges against Hillary Clinton.
In a quoted response to the threats, Angel Ureña, described by AP as a spokesperson for the Clintons, said, “They negotiated in good faith. You did not,” adding, “They told you under oath what they know, but you don’t care.”
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said earlier Monday that his caucus would discuss the contempt resolutions later in the week, while telling AP that he remained “noncommittal” about whipping votes against them. Jeffries said he was a “hard no” on contempt and accused Comer of focusing on political retribution rather than investigating what Democrats say are delays in producing Justice Department case files related to Epstein, according to the AP report. As AP noted, Jeffries added that “They don’t want a serious interview, they want a charade.”