Former US president Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary are calling for their congressional testimony on ties to convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein to be held publicly, in a bid to prevent Republicans from politicising the issue.
Both Clintons had been ordered to give closed-door depositions before the House Oversight Committee, which is probing the deceased financier's connections to powerful figures and how information about his crimes was handled.
Democrats say the probe is being weaponised to attack political opponents of President Donald Trump, himself a longtime Epstein associate who has not been called to testify, rather than to conduct legitimate oversight.
House Republicans had previously threatened a contempt vote if the Democratic power couple did not show up to testify, which they have since agreed to do.
But holding the deposition behind closed doors, Bill Clinton said, would be akin to being tried at a "kangaroo court".
"Let's stop the games & do this the right way: in a public hearing," the former Democratic president said on X.
Read more: Clintons to testify before US House Epstein investigation
Hillary Clinton, former US secretary of state, said the couple had already told the Republican-led Oversight Committee "what we know".
"If you want this fight ... let's have it in public," she said.
Last week, the US Justice Department released the latest cache of Epstein files - more than three million documents, photos and videos related to its investigation into Epstein, who died from what was determined to be suicide while in custody in 2019.
Bill Clinton features regularly in the files, but no evidence has come to light implicating either Clinton in criminal activity.
The former president has acknowledged flying on Epstein's plane in the early 2000s for Clinton Foundation-related humanitarian work, but said he never visited Epstein's private island.
Hillary Clinton, who ran against Mr Trump for president in 2016, said she had no meaningful interactions with Epstein, never flew on his plane and never visited his island.
