Hillary Clinton calls for public hearing in House Oversight panel's Epstein probe, not deposition

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday called for a public hearing in the House Oversight Committee's probe into late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, rather than sitting for a closed-door deposition, after she and former President Bill Clinton agreed to testify.

"For six months, we engaged Republicans on the Oversight Committee in good faith," Hillary Clinton posted on X on Thursday. "We told them what we know, under oath. They ignored all of it. They moved the goalposts and turned accountability into an exercise in distraction.

"So let’s stop the games. If you want this fight, @RepJamesComer, let’s have it—in public. You love to talk about transparency. There’s nothing more transparent than a public hearing, cameras on. We will be there."

The Clintons on Tuesday agreed to testify before the committee after the panel threatened to advance contempt proceedings against them. Hillary Clinton's deposition is scheduled for Feb. 26, while her husband's is the next day.

On Tuesday, the Clintons’ lawyers accused House Oversight Committee Chairman Comer in a letter of adding “new stipulations” about a video requirement for the deposition right before the couple agreed to testify, The Hill reported. The attorneys pushed for a public hearing instead. 

“Though you have notably never asked the Clintons to appear in an open hearing, we now believe that will best suit our concerns about fairness,” the lawyers wrote. “Their answers, and your questions, can be seen by all to be judged accordingly.”

Hillary Clinton spokesperson Nick Merrill posted on X on Tuesday, "At the 11th hour, James Comer asked for a camera, that’s fine. He can have 1,000 cameras. The Clintons will do this publicly."

Comer has pushed back against a public hearing, saying the Clintons were subpoenaed for a “sit-down deposition,” not a hearing.

The committee chairman told Newsmax on Wednesday that he planned to make the deposition video and transcript publicly available.

“Depositions are always the preferred means of getting information from a witness,” Comer said. “If you look at history, congressional hearings, they may be entertaining, but they’re not very substantive. You go five minutes back and forth, members yelling and screaming at each other.”

Comer called his panel a “very disruptive committee,” and said it has a “rough set of characters on both sides of the aisle” who might interfere with questioning the Clintons.

“So we’re going to do the depositions,” Comer said. “That’s what the subpoena was for, and after the depositions, if the Clintons want more, they’re more than welcome to come to the House Oversight Committee.”

Comer also said he believes it will be “difficult” for the Clintons to plead the Fifth Amendment during the deposition, after the couple pushed for an open hearing.

“They’ve been talking a big game for the last 24 hours, that they want the American people to see, they want the American people to learn the truth and all that,” Comer said. “Well, if the truth is you can’t answer the questions, you plead the Fifth, then I think that’s gonna be a mark that bans them from social gatherings and everything else, because most liberals in America are very concerned about getting the truth of Epstein.”

The Clintons have repeatedly denied any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes, and they haven't been publicly accused by any of the late financier's victims.