After months of resistance to congressional subpoenas, the former president and former secretary of state signaled a willingness to testify as lawmakers moved closer to a vote that could test the limits of Congress’s authority.
Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton agreed late Monday to testify before a House committee investigating the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a concession that could avert a rare institutional confrontation between Congress and one of the country’s most influential political families.
Still, the Republican leading the investigation warned that no final agreement had been reached, even as lawmakers moved closer to a vote that could have placed the former president at risk of being held in criminal contempt of Congress, an action with little historical precedent.
Representative James Comer of Kentucky, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said attorneys for the Clintons informed committee staff that the couple would “appear for depositions on mutually agreeable dates.” Their lawyers also requested that the committee halt its effort to pursue contempt proceedings, which could result in substantial fines and possible incarceration if approved by the House and prosecuted by the Justice Department.
Comer signaled caution.
“We don’t have anything in writing,” he told reporters, adding that he was open to accepting the offer but that “it depends on what they say.”
The negotiations came as Republican leaders advanced the contempt resolution through the House Rules Committee, typically the final step before a measure reaches the House floor. The moment carried significant weight for Congress, raising the possibility that lawmakers could attempt to impose one of their most severe punishments on a former president.
As discussions continued, the Rules Committee postponed further action.
Earlier Monday, Comer rejected a proposal from the Clintons’ legal team that would have allowed Mr. Clinton to participate in a four-hour transcribed interview while Mrs. Clinton submitted a sworn declaration. He insisted that both comply fully with the subpoenas by appearing for sworn depositions.
“The Clintons do not get to dictate the terms of lawful subpoenas,” Comer said.
The former president and the former secretary of state had resisted the subpoenas for months after the Oversight Committee issued them in August while opening a broader investigation into Epstein and his associates. Their attorneys questioned the validity of the subpoenas, but the threat of contempt proceedings appeared to accelerate negotiations.
Last month, the Republican-controlled committee advanced criminal contempt charges with some Democratic backing. Nine of the panel’s 21 Democrats supported the measure against Mr. Clinton, arguing that the Epstein investigation required full transparency. Three Democrats also supported advancing the charges against Mrs. Clinton.
For Republicans, Mr. Clinton’s long documented relationship with Epstein has reemerged as a focal point as lawmakers revisit the financier’s ties to political and business elites. Epstein died by suicide in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
Mr. Clinton, like several other powerful men, maintained contact with Epstein in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He has not been accused of wrongdoing.
The Clintons have remained sharply critical of the investigation, accusing Mr. Comer of bringing politics into the process while failing to hold the Trump administration accountable for delays in releasing Justice Department case files related to Epstein.
“They negotiated in good faith. You did not,” Angel Ureña, a spokesman for the Clintons, said in response to the chairman’s threats. “They told you under oath what they know, but you don’t care.”
Even so, the prospect of a contempt vote underscored how far Congress appeared willing to go. Lawmakers have historically shown deference to former presidents. None has ever been forced to testify before Congress, although some have done so voluntarily.
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries urged restraint, saying his caucus would discuss the resolutions later in the week while stopping short of committing to oppose them. He described himself as a “hard no” on contempt and accused Republicans of focusing on political retribution rather than examining why federal authorities have yet to release all the material connected to Epstein.
“They don’t want a serious interview, they want a charade,” Jeffries said.
For now, the standoff remains unresolved as Congress weighs whether to test the limits of its authority against figures who once occupied the highest levels of American power.
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