Former President Bill Clinton pushes for public hearing in House Epstein investigation

Former President Bill Clinton has hit back at Republicans pushing to keep parts of the House investigation into alleged associates of Jeffrey Epstein behind closed doors.

“I have called for the full release of the Epstein files. I have provided a sworn statement of what I know. And just this week, I’ve agreed to appear in person before the committee. But it’s still not enough for Republicans on the House Oversight Committee,” Clinton wrote in a post on X.

“Now, Chairman [James] Comer says he wants cameras, but only behind closed doors. Who benefits from this arrangement? 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.”

Clinton’s name appears thousands of times in the files, the latest tranche of which was released by the Justice Department last week. Both Republicans and Democrats have called for both the former president and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to sit for depositions in the investigation.

Being named in the Epstein files is not evidence of wrongdoing and the Clintons have not been accused of any criminal activity in connection with Epstein.

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“I will not sit idly as they use me as a prop in a closed-door kangaroo court by a Republican Party running scared,” Clinton added. “If they 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.”

It comes just days after several House Democrats joined Republicans in voting to compel the Clintons’ testimony, ending months of stalemate on the House Oversight Committee. A lawyer for the Clintons has accused Comer, the committee chair, of acting in bad faith to secure the appearance.

Hillary Clinton also posted her own fiery response to Comer, challenging him to “have this fight in public.”

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

She added: “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.”

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President Donald Trump said earlier this week that it “bothers” him that his own party is investigating Clinton over his alleged links to Jeffrey Epstein.

On Wednesday evening, as fallout from the Department of Justice's latest dump of Epstein files continued, Trump drew ridicule from political analysts after insisting he still “likes” the former president despite years of political combat between the pair.

In an interview with NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Llamas, Trump was asked about House Republicans’ push to force Bill and Hillary Clinton to testify publicly about their ties to Epstein.

“It bothers me that somebody is going after Bill Clinton,” Trump said. “I like Bill Clinton. I still like Bill Clinton.”

Before entering politics, Trump frequently praised the Clintons and moved in the same social circles – Hillary Clinton even attended Trump’s 2005 wedding to Melania.

But once the 2016 presidential race began, Trump accused Bill Clinton of being “one of the great abusers of the world” and sparred with Hillary Clinton over the sexism and language he used on the campaign trail.