House Republicans, led by Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.), have spent months staging a high-profile investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s network — one that’s increasingly looking like a political pageant centered on former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton rather than a serious fact-finding mission. In response, the Clintons aren’t just refusing to play along with the GOP script — they’re calling their bluff and demanding real accountability.
The former president unloaded on Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) on Friday, torching the House Oversight Committee’s Epstein probe as a political stunt and accusing Republicans of trying to use him as a prop in what he called a “closed-door kangaroo court.”
Clinton’s broadside comes as he and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton prepare to sit for depositions tied to the committee’s investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender. After lawmakers from both parties threatened contempt proceedings if the Clintons ignored subpoenas, the couple agreed to testify under oath on Feb. 26 and 27.
But the format — private, closed-door depositions that will be videotaped and transcribed — is exactly what Clinton says exposes the investigation for what it really is.
The committee insists the setup mirrors how it questioned former special counsel Jack Smith during a closed hearing in December. Clinton isn’t buying it.
In a blistering multi-part statement, he accused Republicans of running a partisan spectacle that benefits no one except themselves. Clinton pointed out that he has already called for the full release of the Epstein files, provided a sworn statement detailing what he knows, and agreed to testify in person — yet Republicans keep moving the goalposts.
“Who benefits from this arrangement?” Clinton asked. “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.”
“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 wrote, making it clear he views the secrecy as the point, not a coincidence.
If Republicans genuinely want answers, Clinton said, the solution is simple: stop hiding. “If the Republicans on the committee 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.”
Hillary Clinton echoed that challenge a day earlier, daring Comer to bring cameras into the room. “If you want this fight … let’s have it — in public,” she wrote on social media.
The Clintons’ demands put Comer in an uncomfortable spotlight. Republicans have spent months talking up transparency while aggressively invoking the Clintons’ names in connection to Epstein — only to insist on secrecy once testimony is actually on the table.
Comer has largely avoided responding directly to Clinton’s attacks. Instead, he has leaned on procedure, noting that the subpoenas issued to the Clintons were bipartisan and that depositions would be recorded.
“Our Epstein investigation is not dictated by the Clintons,” Comer said in a social media post. “Depositions are on video for all to see. If the Clintons want a hearing, it can be after depositions.”
For Clinton, that answer only reinforces his point. Republicans, he argues, are happy to wave around insinuations and headlines — but far less eager to let the public watch the facts unfold in real time.
At this point, the lines are drawn. The Clintons want sunlight. Republicans want control. And Bill Clinton has made clear he’s done pretending this is about anything other than politics.
