Former US president Bill Clinton and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton will testify in a congressional investigation into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a staffer has said.
The decision could divert a planned vote in the Republican-led House of Representatives to hold the two prominent Democrats in contempt, which could lead to criminal charges.
Bill Clinton will appear on 27 February, and Hillary Clinton will do so the day before, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, James Comer, said.
The House Oversight Committee recommended last week that they be held in contempt for refusing to testify about their relationship with Epstein.
The Clintons had offered to cooperate with the panel but had refused to appear in person, saying the investigation was a partisan exercise aimed at protecting Republican President Donald Trump.
The Clintons' deputy chief of staff, Angel Urena, said: "They told you under oath what they know, but you don't care.
"But the former president and former secretary of state will be there. They look forward to setting a precedent that applies to everyone."
House Speaker Mike Johnson welcomed the news but did not say whether the chamber would drop its planned contempt vote.
"That’s a good development," he said.
"We expect everyone to comply with congress’s subpoenas," he added.
The House Rules Committee had advanced resolutions accusing the Clintons of defying subpoenas to appear in person to explain their links to Epstein, who died in custody in 2019.
The Epstein affair continues to cast a long shadow over Washington, entangling some of the most prominent names in US politics and highlighting the sharp partisan battles that have shaped the scandal.
Democrats say the probe is being weaponised to attack political opponents of Mr Trump - himself a longtime Epstein associate who has not been called to testify - rather than to conduct legitimate oversight.
Mr Trump spent months trying to block the disclosure of investigative files linked to Epstein, who moved in elite circles for years, cultivating ties with billionaires, politicians, academics and celebrities.
Neither Mr Trump nor the Clintons have been accused of criminal wrongdoing related to Epstein's activities.
In letters where they initially refused to appear in Washington, the Clintons had argued that the subpoenas were invalid because they lacked a clear legislative purpose.
Republicans say the Democratic couple's past links to the business tycoon, including Mr Clinton's use of his private jet in the early 2000s, justify in-person questioning under oath.
Instead, the couple submitted sworn written statements describing their knowledge of Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking.
Mr Clinton flew on Epstein's plane several times in the early 2000s after leaving office.
He acknowledged flying on Epstein's plane for Clinton Foundation-related humanitarian work, but said he never visited his private island.
He has expressed regret about the relationship and said he knew nothing about Epstein's criminal activity.
Ms Clinton said she had no meaningful interactions with Epstein, never flew on his plane and never visited his island.
The contempt vote and its targeting of the Clintons could have exposed divisions among congressional Democrats.
Some Democrats have privately acknowledged that their party has long argued no one should be beyond scrutiny in efforts to uncover the full scope of Epstein's crimes.
But others feared that advancing the contempt resolutions would have played into a partisan strategy to shift attention away from Mr Trump's past contacts with Epstein.
Meanwhile, former British government minister Peter Mandelson is to step down from the House of Lords in London amid allegations that he passed market-sensitive information to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein
It came after Mr Starmer told a cabinet meeting that the alleged transmission of highly sensitive government business to Epstein was "disgraceful" and the ex-Northern Ireland secretary had "let his country down".
Additional reporting PA
