Former President Invoice Clinton and his spouse, former Secretary of State and one-time presidential candidate Hillary Clinton have now agreed to testify earlier than Congress in the continuing investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.
The settlement comes simply in time. The Home of Representatives had been getting ready to vote on holding the Clintons in contempt of Congress for refusing to look earlier than the Home Oversight Committee. That vote is now off the desk after their authorized workforce agreed to the committee’s phrases, avoiding a confrontation that might have been unprecedented and explosive.
Invoice is scheduled to sit down for a filmed and transcribed deposition on February 27, per BBC Information and others on Tuesday, with Hillary set to look the day earlier than that on February 26. There will likely be no time restrict to both of their interviews.
This marks the primary time a former US president has testified earlier than a congressional panel since Gerald Ford in 1983, underscoring simply how critical and weird this second is.
Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer didn’t mince phrases when addressing the reversal in a press release despatched out to the media:
“As soon as it grew to become clear that we might maintain them in contempt, the Clintons utterly caved. Republicans and Democrats on the Oversight Committee have been clear: nobody is above the regulation — and that features the Clintons.”
Till just lately, the Clintons had taken a defiant stance, arguing they’d already submitted sworn statements outlining what they described as their supposedly restricted information of Epstein. Which, uh, Invoice, are ya REALLY positive about that?
Anyway… they’d additionally beforehand dismissed the Home Oversight Committee’s authorized summonses as:
“Nothing greater than a ploy to try to embarrass political rivals, as President Trump has directed.”
The strain solely intensified as bipartisan assist grew for holding them in contempt. A final-minute supply from the Clintons’ legal professionals proposing restricted testimony was rejected over issues that Invoice would run out the clock.
Affirmation of their look got here Monday evening from Invoice Clinton’s deputy chief of workers Angel Urenawho fired again publicly on the committee in a submit on X (Twitter) that mentioned this:
“They negotiated in good religion. You didn’t. They informed you below oath what they know, however you don’t care. However the former President and former Secretary of State will likely be there. They sit up for setting a precedent that applies to everybody.”
It’s necessary to notice that neither Invoice nor Hillary have been accused of wrongdoing by survivors of Epstein’s abuse.
Each deny any information of his crimes, besides. Hillary has mentioned she by no means met or spoke to Epstein. Invoice has acknowledged a previous acquaintance, together with flights on Epstein’s non-public jet within the early 2000showever his workforce claims these journeys had been tied to Clinton Basis work and ended lengthy earlier than Epstein’s crimes grew to become public.
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Nonetheless, images, flight logs, and unanswered questions have stored this story alive. As for the Clintons themselves, they’ve accused Comer of politicizing the investigation and stalling significant progress.
Now, below oath and on digital camera, they must reply. And the entire world will likely be watching to see what they are saying…
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(Picture by way of New York Intercourse Offender Registry/MEGA/IF)