House Republicans on Tuesday canceled a planned vote to hold Bill and Hillary Clinton in criminal contempt of Congress for refusing to testify in the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, after the Clintons agreed to be deposed on camera this month and requested that they be allowed to do so at public hearings.
The agreement marked a tense resolution to a bitter monthslong feud between Representative James R. Comer of Kentucky, the Republican chairman of the Oversight Committee, and the Clintons, who had resisted testifying and accused the G.O.P. of targeting them as part of a political vendetta.
“Once it became clear that the House of Representatives would hold them in contempt, the Clintons completely caved,” Mr. Comer said in a statement, adding that his panel looked forward to questioning them as part of the investigation into the “horrific crimes” of Mr. Epstein, the convicted sex offender who died in prison in 2019, and his longtime companion, Ghislaine Maxwell.
But in agreeing to all of Mr. Comer’s demands, the former president and former secretary of state also made one of their own: requesting that the entire proceedings be made public.
“Despite our unambiguous agreement to all of his terms last night, you added new stipulations this morning, for the first time, most notably the requirement of videotaping the interview,” the Clintons’ legal team wrote in an email to Mr. Comer on Tuesday morning, which was obtained by The New York Times.
The move appeared to be an effort to prevent House Republicans from selectively releasing unflattering exchanges from their videotaped depositions.
Mr. Comer did not acknowledge the request in his response.
Mrs. Clinton is now scheduled to appear on Feb. 26 and Mr. Clinton is scheduled to appear on Feb. 27 for all-day depositions.
After months of resisting subpoenas that they described as invalid and legally unenforceable, the Clintons on Monday night backed down and agreed to testify in the panel’s investigation into Mr. Epstein.
“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 email from the Clintons’s lawyers to Mr. Comer said. “Their answers, and your questions, can be seen by all to be judged accordingly.”
Philippe Reines, a longtime adviser to the Clintons, said that Mr. Comer would have a hard time keeping the depositions behind closed doors.
“Good luck explaining to the tens of millions of Americans who want to get to the bottom of this why he won’t let them watch,” he said.
Annie Karni is a congressional correspondent for The Times.
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