WASHINGTON — For the primary time in additional than 40 years, a former president will attraction straight earlier than Congress to fend off legal allegations.
Former President Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will testify earlier than the Home Oversight Committee this week in its investigation into convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirators.
The couple agreed to seem after a contentious trade with committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.), who accused them of resisting congressional oversight and withholding info about their ties to Epstein and convicted co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell in earlier testimony. The pair have denied wrongdoing and accused Comer of conducting a politically motivated “kangaroo courtroom” designed to hold them within the information and deflect from President Trump’s ties to the infamous intercourse offender.
“They negotiated in good religion. You didn’t,” Clinton spokesperson Angel Ureña mentioned in a press release, referring to Comer. “They advised 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 give the impression of being ahead to setting a precedent that applies to everybody.”
Hillary Clinton will seem Thursday, and the previous president is due the next day. The closed-door deposition will likely be recorded, with video set for launch later.
How did we get right here?
Invoice Clinton has mentioned he “had no inkling of the crimes” Epstein was committing and discovered of them solely by media reviews. The former president took 4 journeys on Epstein’s personal jet between 2002 and 2003, which included journey for work associated to the Clinton Basis, a Clinton spokesperson confirmed in 2019.
He’s anticipated to face questions concerning a collection of photographs launched by the Division of Justice, considered one of which seems to present the ex-president in a sizzling tub with Epstein and a lady whose face is redacted. Congress solely lately gained entry to information pertaining to the Justice Division’s Epstein investigation after lawmakers pressured the information’ unredacted launch late December.
“The Clintons’ testimony is crucial to understanding Epstein’s intercourse trafficking community and the methods they sought to curry favor and affect to defend themselves from scrutiny,” Comer mentioned at a committee assembly final week.
Hillary Clinton maintains that she by no means met Epstein, however says she encountered Maxwell “a few years in the past.” She detailed her objections to the Justice Division’s dealing with of the investigation in a BBC interview final week.
“They are slow-walking it, they are redacting the names of males who are in it, they are stonewalling official requests from members of Congress,” she mentioned, calling the division’s investigation a “cover-up.”
The pair contend that Republicans are utilizing the high-profile interview to draw consideration from accusations levied in opposition to the president and the Justice Division’s dealing with of the investigation.
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Lengthy Seaside) accused the division Tuesday of violating each the Home Oversight Committee’s subpoena and the Epstein Recordsdata Transparency Act when it obscured information associated to accusations that Trump sexually abused a minor. Garcia was permitted to assessment unredacted proof logs and mentioned the Justice Division “seems to have illegally withheld FBI interviews with this survivor who accused President Trump of heinous crimes.”
“To be clear the claims are unfounded and false and if they’ve any shred of credibility they actually would have been weaponized in opposition to Trump already,” the Justice Division mentioned in December.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing in reference to Epstein.
Penalties for main gamers
The interviews come as British police final week arrested Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the previous prince, probably the most high-profile particular person caught up thus far within the unfolding saga.
Penalties have been extreme in Europe, with former Norwegian Prime Minister Thorbjorn Jagland charged with “gross corruption.” In the UK, Peter Mandelson, the previous British ambassador to the US, was pressured out of the Home of Lords earlier than he was arrested Monday.
The information’ launch triggered a wave of resignations by enterprise leaders over ties to Epstein and Maxwell, together with Hyatt Inns’ Thomas Pritzker, Goldman Sachs counsel and former Obama staffer Kathy Ruemmler and DP World Chief Government Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem.
Stateside, Democrats are crying foul over what they see because the Justice Division holding again essential case information — 50% by some estimations — and delaying investigations into American elites, together with among the president’s shut associates.
“Over two dozen individuals have resigned — CEOs, members of presidency worldwide — however I haven’t seen any arrests or investigations right here in the US from this Division of Justice,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) mentioned on the Home flooring Tuesday.
What comes subsequent?
No matter what is revealed of their testimony, the Clintons may nonetheless face contempt costs from Congress for refusing to adjust to earlier committee subpoenas.
“The Clintons have to be held accountable for his or her actions. And Democrats should assist these measures, or they are going to be uncovered as hypocrites,” Comer mentioned at a committee assembly final week.
The former first couple hope their look will set a precedent for Trump and different key names within the information to seem earlier than Congress.
Rep. Ro Khanna, a Fremont Democrat and co-author of the laws that compelled the discharge of the Epstein information, stays hopeful that those that participated in Epstein’s sexual abuses will likely be held to account for his or her actions.
In an interview final week, Khanna mentioned the arrest of former Prince Andrew is proof that it’s going to occur. Khanna referred to as it a “recreation changer.”
“This units the usual for accountability,” he mentioned. “I imagine you’re going to see the elite of the Epstein class begin to fall each in the US and around the globe.”
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