Bill Clinton throws down new dare to Republicans turning him into a 'prop'

Former President Bill Clinton threw down the gauntlet for House Republicans: if you want my testimony so badly, let me do it in public.

"I will not sit idly as they use me as a prop in a closed-door kangaroo court by a Republican Party running scared," Clinton posted to X on Friday. "If they want answers, let’s stop the games & do this the right way: in a public hearing, where the American people can see for themselves what this is really about."

Bill and Hillary Clinton have been a focus of House Republicans for weeks in what critics deride as an effort to spin the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case files to take the focus off of President Donald Trump's numerous appearances in them.

Bill Clinton is one of the most prominent people known to have associated with Epstein, and is known to have flown on Epstein's private jet multiple times. He has denied ever having visited Epstein's notorious private island, where authorities have said children were systematically sexually abused. No evidence to date has emerged implicating him in Epstein's crimes.

Initially, the Clintons balked at what they considered to be highly politicized conditions for their testimony, which led a House committee to vote to criminally refer them for contempt of Congress. House GOP leadership actually considered bundling a full contempt referral vote on the House floor in with the legislation to reopen the government, as a means of sweetening the deal for budget hawks or MAGA lawmakers enraged about a compromise designed to negotiate for immigration enforcement reforms.

In the end, though, the Clintons agreed to testify, taking the possibility of a full House vote on contempt referral off the table.