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President Donald Trump reacted Tuesday to news that former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have agreed to testify in a House investigation tied to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, calling the situation “a shame.”
“I think it’s a shame to be honest. I always liked him. Her? Yeah. She’s a very capable woman who’s better at debating than some of the other people, I’ll tell you that. She was smarter, smart woman,” the president said in response to The Hill during a press gaggle following a bill signing in the White House Oval Office.
“I hate to see it in many ways,” President Trump continued. “But then I look at me. They went after me. They wanted me to go to jail for the rest of my life and it turned out I was innocent,” he said, referring to past investigations involving himself.
“I shouldn’t feel this way but I feel badly that they have to go through that,” he added.
Earlier Tuesday, the Clintons reached an agreement to appear before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform as part of the panel’s Epstein probe.
House Oversight Chairman James Comer said Bill Clinton will testify Feb. 27, while Hillary Clinton is scheduled to appear Feb. 26. Both depositions will be filmed and transcribed.
In a letter to Comer, attorneys for the Clintons said that after the couple accepted the chairman’s original terms, he added new conditions requiring the depositions to be recorded on video.
“Though you have notably never asked the Clintons to appear in an open hearing, we now believe that will best suit our concerns about fairness,” the lawyers wrote. “Their answers, and your questions, can be seen by all to be judged accordingly.”
The agreement came as the House was preparing to vote on whether to hold the Clintons in contempt of Congress for previously failing to comply with congressional subpoenas.
The reported agreement surfaced just hours after James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said he rejected the Clintons’ latest proposal to testify with conditions, accusing them of seeking preferential treatment.
“The Clintons are in contempt of Congress,” Comer wrote on X. “Their attorneys’ latest letter makes clear they still expect special treatment because of their last name. The Clintons do not get to dictate the terms of lawful subpoenas.”