Former US President Bill Clinton and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton will testify in a congressional investigation into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a staffer said Monday.

The Republican-led House Oversight Committee recommended last week that the Clintons be held in contempt for refusing to testify about their relationship with Epstein, a move several Democrats on the panel agreed with. The Clintons offered to cooperate with the panel but declined to appear in person, saying the investigation was a partisan exercise aimed at protecting Republican President Donald Trump.

The House of Representatives later this week planned to impeach two prominent Democrats in contempt of court, a finding that could potentially lead to criminal charges. Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro, who served in Trump’s first administration, served short prison terms in 2024 for refusing to appear before a House committee investigating Trump’s actions that led to the January 6, 2021 riots at the Capitol.

Asked whether the House would hold its impeachment votes against the Clintons, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson told Reuters: “They’re working on it right now. Lawyers are going over the details.”

Johnson earlier welcomed the news that the former president and former secretary of state had agreed to testify.

WATCH | Bill Clinton featured prominently in the December release of the Epstein files:

Epstein files: More photos of Clinton, few mentions of Trump so far

The US Department of Justice has released thousands of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein with numerous redactions. Former US President Bill Clinton is among the most prominent figures in this collection of material, and US President Donald Trump is rarely mentioned.

The recent release of millions of internal documents related to Epstein by the US Department of Justice revealed the late financier and sex offender’s ties to many prominent people in politics, finance, academia and business — both before and after he pleaded guilty to prostitution charges in 2008.

It would be unprecedented in modern times for a former president to testify before Congress in such a highly charged scenario. Harry Truman and Gerald Ford are the only former presidents to testify in Congress since World War II – Truman speaking about the United Nations Charter and Ford apparently discussing the bicentennial of the US Constitution.

Republicans want a ‘political spectacle’: the ultimate Democrat

Like Trump, Bill Clinton is known to have flown on Epstein’s plane several times. He expressed regret for the relationship and said he knew nothing about Epstein’s criminal activity.

Clinton’s representatives say the former president cut ties with Epstein after the first round of criminal charges in 2006. Epstein’s confidant, now-jailed Ghislaine Maxwell, attended the wedding of Clinton’s daughter, Chelsea, in 2010.

Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state and 2016 presidential candidate, said through a spokesman that she “does not recall ever speaking to Epstein.”

Republican James Comer of Kentucky, who chairs the oversight committee, said Monday that the Clintons had not set a date for their testimony and would discuss next steps with panel members.

“The Clintons’ attorney said they agreed to the terms, but again those terms are unclear and they haven’t given dates for their depositions,” Comer said. “I will clarify the terms they agree to and then discuss the next steps with the members of my commission.”

Comer earlier on monday rejected an offer from the clintons’ lawyers to have bill clinton conduct a transcribed interview and hillary clinton submit an affidavit.

WATCH | The US Congress would also like to hear from former Prince Andrew:

Oversight committee renews calls for ex-prince to testify about Epstein | Hanomansing tonight

US Democratic Representative Suhas Subramanyam says the latest release of more than three million pages from the Epstein files confirms that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor had a close relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and calls on him to testify before the US Congress. King Charles stripped his brother of his title in early November amid mounting pressure over his ties to Epstein.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries told ABC News that he believed the Clintons made the offers to testify in good faith, suggesting Comer’s motives were partisan and designed to embarrass the couple.

“The idea that they’re going to go after Secretary Clinton and Bill Clinton with criminal contempt — in other words, this is some kind of ‘lockdown’ approach — seems completely inconsistent with the law, if the goal is actually to try to get information, not to create a political spectacle,” Jeffries told ABC News on Sunday.

Democrats also say the Justice Department has not yet released all the materials it has on the late financier, and that Republican leadership has not raised the issue.