Hillary Clinton appearing for Epstein deposition before House committee

Washington — Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is meeting with the House Oversight Committee on Thursday in New York after she agreed to answer questions under oath related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to fend off a contempt of Congress vote. 

Hillary Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, agreed to testify behind closed doors after a lengthy back-and-forth with the Republican-led panel culminated in a bipartisan vote to recommend that both be held in criminal contempt of Congress for failing to appear under subpoena. The House was on the verge of a floor vote, which was poised to pass with bipartisan support, when the Clintons relented to the committee's demands for in-person questioning. 

The about-face marked a victory for Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, the committee's Republican chairman. Comer denied the Clintons' requests to hold the questioning in public, but has indicated a public hearing is possibile after the closed-door depositions.

The Kentucky Republican reiterated at a news conference ahead of the deposition Thursday that "no one's accusing, at this moment, the Clintons of wrongdoing." Thursday's testimony is being held at the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center in Chappaqua, New York, where the Clintons live.

"They're going to have due process," Comer said. "But we have a lot of questions."

Comer said that the committee is seeking to understand how Epstein accumulated his wealth, how he surrounded himself with powerful individuals and whether he was a government asset. 

"These are the questions that we're going to ask over the next two days, and hopefully we'll be able to get some answers," he said. 

The chairman said the committee would release the transcript and video of the deposition after they are reviewed and approved. He said he expects a "long deposition" Thursday, and an "even longer deposition" from the former president. His testimony is scheduled for Friday.

Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the committee, said that Democrats are glad that the Clintons are willing to testify. 

"Oversight Democrats, from day one we have said that we want to talk to anyone," Garcia said. "Whether that is a Democrat, a Republican, how much wealth they have, how powerful their position is, we want to talk to anyone."

Rep. James Walkinshaw, a Virginia Democrat who also serves on the committee, questioned the motivation for deposing the former secretary of state. 

"There is no indication — zero, zip, zilch, nada — that Secretary Clinton had any knowledge of Epstein's crimes," he said. "My fear is we're here today as part of a political exercise, part of a long-running fever dream where Republicans want to lock up Secretary Clinton."

Neither Clinton has been accused of wrongdoing and both have called for the full release of the Epstein files. 

In an interview with the BBC last week, Hillary Clinton accused Comer of holding firm on the in-person depositions to shift focus away from President Trump's relationship with Epstein and his administration's handling of the Epstein files. 

"I have very strong opinions about what it is they're hiding and who they are protecting," she said. "Why do they want to pull us into this? To divert attention from President Trump. This is not complicated."

Mr. Trump has denied any wrongdoing related to Epstein. 

In a sworn declaration submitted to the committee on Jan. 13, Hillary Clinton denied any "personal knowledge" of crimes committed by Epstein or his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. She also said she "never had any responsibility for or involvement with" the Justice Department's investigations into and prosecutions of Epstein and Maxwell during her two decades in public office or as a private citizen. 

"I do not recall encountering Mr. Epstein, or any specific interactions with him," she said in her declaration, adding that Maxwell had a "personal relationship with a mutual friend," though she does "not recall the specifics of my interactions with her." 

In the BBC interview, Hillary Clinton said she met Maxwell, who is serving a prison sentence on sex trafficking charges, "on a few occasions" through the Clinton Foundation. 

Comer said in a statement Monday that the Clintons' testimony "is critical to understanding Epstein and Maxwell's sex trafficking network and the ways they sought to curry favor and influence to shield themselves from scrutiny."