Former US president Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary Clinton, have called for their congressional testimony on links to convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein to be held in public, arguing that closed-door proceedings would allow the issue to be politicised.
Both were ordered to give private depositions before the House of Representatives’ oversight committee, which is examining Epstein’s connections to influential figures and the handling of information about his crimes.
Democrats say the Republican-led investigation is being used to target political opponents of President Donald Trump, rather than to conduct genuine oversight. Trump, who had a longstanding association with Epstein, has not been called to testify.
House Republicans had earlier warned they would pursue contempt votes if the Clintons failed to appear. The couple have since agreed to testify.
However, Bill Clinton said on Friday that holding the depositions behind closed doors would amount to a “kangaroo court”.
“Let’s stop the games and do this the right way: in a public hearing,” he wrote on X.
Hillary said the couple had already provided the oversight committee with all relevant information.
“If you want this fight, let’s have it in public,” she said on Thursday.
The US justice department last week released a further tranche of so-called Epstein files, comprising more than three million documents, photographs and videos linked to its investigation. Epstein died in custody in 2019 in what was ruled a suicide.
Bill appears frequently in the files, but no evidence has emerged linking either Clinton to criminal activity.
The former president has acknowledged flying on Epstein’s private jet in the early 2000s for work connected to the Clinton Foundation, but said he never visited Epstein’s private island.
Hillary, who ran against Trump in the 2016 presidential election, said she had no meaningful interactions with Epstein, never flew on his aircraft and never visited his island.
