Former President Bill Clinton blasted Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) on Friday as he and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton prepare to sit for depositions in the House Oversight Committee’s investigation of disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
After Republicans and Democrats on the Committee threatened the Clintons with contempt if they ignored subpoenas, the couple agreed to testify under oath about their relationship with Epstein on Feb. 26 and 27.
The depositions are scheduled to be in-person, private and both videotaped and transcribed ― the same format the committee used when it heard from former special counsel Jack Smith during a closed-door hearing in December.
Hillary Clinton lashed out at Comer on Thursday, saying on social media, “If you want this fight … let’s have it―in public.”
The former president offered his own blistering multi-part Comer critique on Friday, calling the investigation of the couple’s Epstein connections “pure politics” that only serve “partisan interests.”
He began by noting that he has already called for the full release of the Epstein files, provided a sworn statement about what he knows, and agreed to appear in person, “but it’s still not enough for the Republicans on the House Oversight Committee,” Clinton said.
Clinton appeared to take issue with the deposition being taped behind closed doors.
“Who benefits from this arrangement?” Clinton asked. “It’s not Epstein’s victims, who deserve justice. Not the public, who deserve the truth. It serves only partisan interests. This is not fact-finding, it’s pure politics.”
The former president then said he would not “sit idly as they use me as a prop in a closed-door kangaroo court by a Republican Party running scared.”
He added that if the Republicans on the committee “want answers, let’s stop the games & do this the right way: in a public hearing, where the American people can see for themselves what this is really about.”
Comer hadn’t directly commented on Clinton’s posts as of Friday afternoon, but earlier in the day, he noted on social media that the subpoenas issued to the Clintons were bipartisan.
“Our Epstein investigation is not dictated by the Clintons. Depositions are on video for all to see. If the Clintons want a hearing, it can be after depositions,” he said.
