The House Oversight Committee has officially rejected Hillary Clinton’s demand for a public hearing. This decision comes after both she and Bill Clinton finally agreed to sit for depositions in the Jeffrey Epstein probe. A committee spokeswoman stated that the Clintons were issued subpoenas for depositions, not a public stage.
"The Clintons are going to Clinton and try to spin the facts since no one is buying their claims," a GOP majority spokeswoman told Fox News Digital. She noted that the only reason they agreed to testify was to avoid criminal contempt of Congress proceedings. The committee maintains that all witnesses are being treated fairly and consistently under House rules.
Hillary Clinton took to social media on Thursday morning to blast the committee's tactics. "So let’s stop the games. If you want this fight…let’s have it—in public," she wrote on X. She argued that a public hearing with cameras would provide the transparency the committee claims to want.
Chairman James Comer announced that Hillary Clinton will sit for a closed-door, filmed interview on February 26. Bill Clinton is scheduled to appear the following day, February 27, under the same conditions. These interviews follow six months of defiance that nearly led to a chamber-wide contempt vote.
The threat of criminal prosecution was very real for the former first couple. Last month, nine Democrats joined Republicans in voting to advance Bill Clinton's contempt resolution. This bipartisan pressure reportedly forced the Clintons to "completely cave" and accept Comer’s terms for in-person testimony.
The probe is investigating the federal government's handling of the Epstein case and his ties to powerful figures. While Bill Clinton's friendship with Epstein is well-documented, there has been no implication of wrongdoing by either Clinton. Comer stated the committee looks forward to delivering "transparency and accountability" for survivors of Epstein and Maxwell.