Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will appear before U.S. House lawmakers in New York on Thursday, testifying under oath as part of a congressional investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
The planned two days of closed-door depositions before the House Oversight Committee will also include former President Bill Clinton.
AP notes the historical significance of the moment:
The closed-door depositions in the Clintons’ hometown of Chappaqua, a typically quiet hamlet north of New York City, come after months of tense back-and-forth between the former high-powered Democratic couple and the Republican-controlled House Oversight Committee.
It will be the first time that a former president has been forced to testify before Congress.
The Clintons, both 79, agreed to testify after their offers of sworn statements were rebuffed by the Oversight panel and its chairman, Rep. James Comer, (R-KY) threatened criminal contempt of Congress charges against them.
“We have a very clear record that we’ve been willing to talk about,” Hillary Clinton said in an interview with the BBC earlier this month.
She added her husband had flown with Epstein for charitable trips and that she did not recall meeting Epstein but had interacted with Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend and confidant, at conferences hosted by the Clinton Foundation, the AP report notes.
RELATED: Trump Blasts Reporter for Not Caring About Epstein’s Donations to Democrats
“We are more than happy to say what we know, which is very limited and totally unrelated to their behavior or their crimes, and we want to do it in public,” Hillary Clinton said.
Bill Clinton’s deposition is scheduled for Friday which will represent the first time a former U.S. president has testified to a congressional panel since Gerald Ford did so in 1983.
Neither Clinton has been accused of wrongdoing and both have called for the full release of the Epstein files.
Both Democratic and Republican members of the committee are expected to address reporters after Hillary Clinton’s deposition, which is scheduled for 11:00 EST.
Follow Simon Kent on Twitter: Follow @SunSimonKent or e-mail to: [email protected]
Read the full article here