Clinton to Testify on Epstein Ties

The closed-door deposition is before the House Oversight Committee, chaired by Republican James Comer of Kentucky. Both Bill and Hillary Clinton initially fought the subpoenas, but relented after the committee took a bipartisan vote to recommend holding them in contempt of Congress. While other former presidents have voluntarily appeared before Congress, this marks the first time a former president has been compelled to testify. The last time a former president testified before Congress was in 1983, when Gerald Ford discussed the upcoming 200th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution. Clinton's spokesperson has stated the former president flew on Epstein's private jet four times between 2002 and 2003 for trips related to the Clinton Foundation. However, flight logs reportedly show Clinton's name as a passenger on numerous flights between 2001 and 2003. Clinton has denied ever visiting Epstein's private island in the Virgin Islands. White House visitor logs show Epstein visited at least 17 times during the early years of the Clinton presidency. Clinton has maintained he had no knowledge of Epstein's crimes and that he had not been in contact with him for more than a decade before Epstein's 2019 arrest. The Clintons have accused the Republican-led committee of conducting a partisan exercise to protect former President Donald Trump, whose name also appears frequently in Epstein-related files. Hillary Clinton, in her own testimony the previous day, called for the committee to subpoena Trump. Hillary Clinton testified for more than six hours, telling the committee she had never met Epstein. According to Chairman Comer, when asked certain questions, she replied "You'll have to ask my husband" more than a dozen times.