Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton escalated her standoff with House Republicans this week, issuing a public challenge to Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer to hold her upcoming Jeffrey Epstein deposition hearing in full view of the public.
In a pointed post on X on Thursday, Clinton accused Republicans of dragging their feet and politicizing the committee’s Epstein investigation. She claimed her team had spent months cooperating with lawmakers, only to see their testimony disregarded. According to Clinton, Republicans shifted the focus repeatedly, turning what she described as an accountability effort into a distraction.
“For six months, we engaged Republicans on the Oversight Committee in good faith,” Clinton wrote. She said she and her representatives told the committee what they knew under oath, but that information was ignored as Republicans, in her words, “moved the goalposts.”
Clinton then threw down a direct challenge, daring Comer to put the proceedings on camera. Calling out the chairman by name, she urged him to abandon what she characterized as political games and conduct the hearing publicly. She framed the move as a test of Republican claims about transparency, arguing that nothing would be more open than a televised hearing.
“So let’s stop the games,” Clinton wrote, saying she would show up and testify if the hearing were public and fully televised.
Her remarks quickly drew a reaction from Republicans, including former Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who seized on Clinton’s statement and amplified it, underscoring the political stakes surrounding the investigation.
Clinton’s public dare comes just days after the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform confirmed that she is scheduled to sit for a closed-door deposition on February 26. Her husband, former President Bill Clinton, is expected to appear for his deposition the following day.
Republicans have described the scheduled appearances as a breakthrough after months of resistance, framing the development as a victory for congressional oversight. GOP members have said they were forced to consider contempt proceedings because of what they described as delays in complying with subpoenas.
Comer has accused the Clintons of only agreeing to testify once the threat of punishment became real. He said the committee’s position is straightforward: no one is above the law, regardless of political power or status. According to Comer, the goal of the investigation is transparency and accountability, both for the American public and for survivors connected to the Epstein case.
Clinton’s demand for a public hearing shifts the spotlight back onto Republicans, placing the committee at a crossroads. If lawmakers proceed with closed-door depositions, they risk appearing reluctant to embrace the transparency they often champion. If they agree to a televised hearing, they open the process to public scrutiny and media attention that could reshape the narrative.
The standoff now sets up a high-stakes decision for the Oversight Committee, with Clinton’s challenge forcing Republicans to choose between the controlled setting of private depositions and the political risks of putting the entire proceeding before the cameras.
[READ MORE: Trump Keeps Media Guessing as He Deflects Term Limit Hypotheticals]
