Bill and Hillary Clinton agreed on Monday to testify in the House Oversight Committee’s investigation into the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, capitulating to the demands of its Republican chairman days before the House was expected to vote to hold them in criminal contempt of Congress.

For months, the Clintons had been adamant that they would not comply with subpoenas from Representative James R. Comer of Kentucky, the panel’s Republican chairman, that they have described as invalid and legally unenforceable. They accused Comer of being part of a plot to target them as President Donald Trump’s political adversaries and promised to fight him on the issue for as long as it took.

But after some Democrats on the panel joined Republicans in a vote to recommend charging them with criminal contempt, an extraordinary first step in referring them to the justice department for prosecution, the Clintons ultimately waved the white flag and agreed to fully comply with Comer’s demands.

In an email sent to Comer on Monday evening, attorneys for the Clintons said their clients would “appear for depositions on mutually agreeable dates” and asked that the House not move forward with a contempt vote, which had been slated for Wednesday.

“They negotiated in good faith. You did not,” spokesmen for the Clintons said in a statement. “They told under oath what they know, but you did not care. But the former President and former secretary of state will be there.”

For Clinton to testify in the Epstein investigation would be nearly unprecedented. No former President has appeared before Congress since 1983, when President Gerald R. Ford did so to discuss the celebration of the 1987 bicentennial of the enactment of the Constitution. When Trump was subpoenaed in 2022 by the select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol, after he had left office, he sued the panel to try to block it. The panel ultimately withdrew the subpoena.

British politician quits

British politician Peter Mandelson is quitting the House of Lords as he faces new questions, and a potential police investigation, over his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

The Speaker of the House of Lords, Michael Forsyth, said Mandelson has announced he will retire from Parliament’s upper chamber effective Wednesday.

Sarah's Trust closes

The charity founded by Sarah Ferguson, the former Duchess of York, is shutting down following the release of emails showing the depth of her friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Sarah’s Trust, which focused on improving the lives of women and children, said it will close for the "foreseeable future", following the revelations in latest documents released by the US department of justice. Ferguson is the ex-wife of the former Prince Andrew, who was stripped of his royal titles due to his own links with Epstein.

New York Times News Service and AP