WASHINGTON — House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) has ordered Bill and Hillary Clinton to appear for depositions next month for the panel’s investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — or face possible contempt of Congress.
Comer initially subpoenaed the former first couple on Aug. 5 to answer questions about their relationship with Epstein — but the Clintons’ attorney in a Nov. 3 response had asked for his clients to make merely “a written proffer of what little information” they have.
“Given the admission that your clients possess some relevant information, your position amounts to a demand that the Committee forgo in-person testimony, potentially relevant to its legislative oversight,” the powerful GOP chairman said.
Former President Bill Clinton with his wife, Hillary, and daughter, Chelsea, on September 24, 2025. Getty Images for Clinton Global Initiative
“Additionally, your suggestion that your clients’ testimony would not be relevant to the stated purposes of the Committee’s investigation because the events in question took place outside of the Clintons’ respective official duties misses the Committee’s point,” Comer added.
“It is precisely the fact President Clinton and Secretary Clinton each maintained relationships with Mr. Epstein and Ms. Maxwell in their personal capacities as private citizens that is of interest to the Committee.”
Then-President Bill Clinton speaking with Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein in 1993. The William J. Clinton President
The 42nd president has been ordered to appear for his deposition at 10 a.m. Dec. 17. His wife, the former secretary of state, was directed to sit for her deposition at 10 a.m. the following day.
If the former first couple fail to show up in defiance of subpoenas, Comer said he’d begin contempt of Congress proceedings. That would require a resolution to pass out of the House Oversight Committee and then the full House. A criminal referral would then be sent to Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Under the Biden administration, Trump allies Steven Bannon and Peter Navarro were prosecuted and sentenced to prison for contempt of Congress convictions for failing to comply with subpoenas issued by the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Experts have suggested that the former president and former secretary of state may be able to invoke executive privilege to spurn the deposition, though it’s unclear whether that would extend to “their personal capacities.”
Epstein’s madam Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking dozens of girls with the deceased pedophile, attended Chelsea Clinton’s wedding in 2010.
After leaving the White House, Bill Clinton flew more than a dozen times on Epstein’s private jet, later dubbed the “Lolita Express.” Hillary Clinton received donations for a Senate campaign from the financier before his run-ins with the law in the mid-2000s.
Jeffrey Epstein with former President Bill Clinton. Netflix
In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida to soliciting a minor for prostitution and had to register as a sex offender — yet continued to foster relationships with influential business leaders, politicians and even British royalty.
Epstein was hit with federal sex trafficking charges in July 2019 and found dead in his Manhattan jail cell on Aug. 10, 2019, while awaiting trial, in what was later determined to be a suicide.
Bill Clinton shakes pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s hand as Ghislaine Maxwell looks on during a tour of the White House in 1993. William J. Clinton Presidential Library
President Trump’s DOJ concluded this past July that no third parties could reasonably be charged with crimes in connection with Epstein and that the dead 66-year-old had not kept a “client list” or blackmailed anyone.
After Epstein’s arrest but before he was found dead, a rep for Bill Clinton issued a statement that declared the former president had “not spoken to Epstein in well over a decade” and “knows nothing about the terrible crimes.”
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Clinton attorney David Kendall, in his previous response to the Oversight panel, wrote: “What we have learned over the years about Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell is abhorrent.”
“The public’s demand for transparency from its government about their criminality is both understandable and warranted,” Kendall said. “Former President Clinton and former Secretary Clinton welcome legitimate oversight in this matter that is grounded in fact.”
Former President Bill Clinton with his daughter Chelsea and his wife Hillary. Andrew Schwartz/SIPA/Shutterstock
“In that regard, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary Hillary Clinton have little to contribute to that legitimate goal, all of which can be readily submitted on paper,” he added.
Other officials who were hit with subpoenas in August and affirmed that they lacked “any information” relevant to the Oversight Committee’s Epstein investigation were allowed to submit a written statement and avoid depositions.
Those included former Attorney Generals Merrick Garland, Loretta Lynch, Eric Holder, Jeff Sessions, Alberto Gonzales, and ex-FBI Directors James Comey and Robert Mueller, whose subpoena was withdrawn after reps revealed he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2021.
Only former Attorney General Bill Barr, who was serving in the first Trump administration when Epstein was arrested, has appeared to answer questions.
Neither Kendall nor a spokeswoman for Bill Clinton immediately responded to requests for comment on Friday.