Bill and Hillary Clinton are preparing for another battle in Washington

WASHINGTON (AP) — For some of their conservative critics, this is the scandal that could finally bring them down. Their resistance to martyrdom proved futile. Now, as they engage in another epic battle, they are using their considerable political skills to try to turn the tables on their accusers.

For Bill and Hillary Clinton, the 1990s are back.

The Clintons are scheduled to testify Thursday and Friday in a House investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, part of a deal with Republicans after it became clear that Congress — with the help of some Democrats — was going to hold them in contempt if they refused to cooperate. For the battle-hardened couple, it amounts to another brawl in Washington. Like many battles before it, this one is another mix of questionable judgment, sexual impropriety, money and power.

During his 1992 campaign, Bill Clinton presented his candidacy as “two for the price of one,” showcasing a presidential marriage unlike any before, with a wife whose professional credentials rivaled his own. In the years that followed, that partnership helped the Clintons weather recurring scandals, including personal scandals that would shatter many other relationships. As her political career was coming to an end, her career was on the rise when she was elected to the US Senate from New York, then served as Secretary of State before becoming the Democratic presidential nominee in 2016.

For those who have watched the Clintons for a long time, this moment is a reminder that the couple — weaned on the politics of the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal — have never been far from the heat of the cultural fray. As the Epstein case unfolded unexpectedly around the world, the Clintons were once again caught up in the scandal of the moment.

“It’s a sad but fitting end to an extraordinary political life,” said David Maraniss, who wrote a biography of Bill Clinton.

There is no evidence of wrongdoing on Clinton’s part when it comes to Epstein, a convicted sex offender who committed suicide in 2019 while in prison awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

But Epstein had ties to Bill Clinton for years, visiting the White House several times in the 1990s, according to visitor logs. After Clinton left office, Epstein became involved in his charitable work, and the former president traveled several times on his private plane.

“Flying on Epstein’s plane was not worth the years of wondering afterward,” Bill Clinton wrote in his 2024 memoir. “I wish I had never met him.”

Bill Clinton’s ties to Epstein

Photos of former President Bill Clinton are displayed as House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., speaks during a January meeting to vote on whether to hold Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress for defying subpoenas to testify in the committee’s investigation into the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Photography by Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

By last summer, the Republican-controlled House Oversight Committee had issued subpoenas to the Clinton family. For months, Bill Clinton, 79, and Hillary Clinton, 78, largely ignored the matter publicly, but that became harder to maintain in December when the former president featured prominently in the first batch of Epstein files.

Among the thousands of documents released, some photos showed him on a private plane, including one with a woman, her face obscured, sitting next to him with her arm around him. Another showed Bill Clinton in a pool with Epstein’s old girlfriend, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, and a person whose face was obscured. Another photo shows Bill Clinton in a hot tub with a woman whose face is obscured.

The Chairman of the Oversight Committee, Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, threatened to hold the Clintons in contempt if they did not comply with the subpoenas, a historic move given that a former president has never been forced to appear before Congress. Between his first and second terms, Donald Trump cited this precedent to stave off a subpoena from the committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Although there was no context surrounding the photos of Bill Clinton, they highlighted how his political promises were often undermined by personal indiscretions.

The 1992 campaign that represented the emerging supremacy of the Baby Boom generation was the same campaign that was marred by rumors of an affair with Gennifer Flowers. A presidency largely defined by economic prosperity was nearly derailed when Clinton was impeached in 1998 on charges of lying under oath and obstruction of justice when he denied engaging in a sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky.

Each time, many Republicans believed they had finally found leverage over the Clintons. But each time, the Clintons found a way out of the vise.

Asa Hutchinson, a former Republican congressman from Arkansas who was House manager during Clinton’s impeachment, described the couple as “intelligent lawyers and brilliant communicators.”

Clinton’s playbook: Fight back fiercely

As each crisis unfolded, a pattern emerged: The Clintons vehemently denied the allegations and often fired women who came forward. They distorted the Republican Party and refocused public attention on more appropriate topics such as the booming economy of the era.

Bill Clinton, who famously told voters “I feel your pain,” always managed to stay in touch with the public. In fact, he enjoyed some of the highest approval ratings of his presidency during the impeachment inquiry and trial, when about 7 in 10 American adults approved of the way he was handling his job.

Likewise, Hillary Clinton dispatched Republicans who felt there was a gap in her handling of the 2012 attack on a compound in Libya that killed four Americans. She emerged from an 11-hour televised congressional hearing in 2015 looking prepared. Even the Republican chairman of the committee investigating the attack said he was not sure it revealed anything new about a case that many in his party considered a scandal.

That experience has informed how the Clintons are handling this week’s testimony. Hillary Clinton has been particularly vocal in calling for the measures to take place in public, rather than in private as Comer currently plans.

“We have nothing to hide,” she told the BBC earlier this month.

Bill Clinton’s outreach took on a harsher tone, reminiscent of the political “war room” that sprung up during the 1992 campaign to respond to negative storylines.

One version accused Comer of “lying in every appearance this week.” Another mocked Republican Reps. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania and Andy Biggs of Arizona by giving them a “hypocrisy award today,” noting how members of the Oversight Committee defied subpoenas issued by the Jan. 6 panel.

Meanwhile, the Clintons issued a four-page letter to Comer on social media, belittling the operation they said was “literally designed to put us in prison.”

As much as they tried to refocus attention during the 1990s, the message hit the White House for dismantling institutions, cracking down on immigration, and pardoning those involved in the Capitol riot.

Conservative attacks on Clinton

The Clintons’ rise to power coincided with the explosion of talk radio as a political force, with Rush Limbaugh using his daily show as a platform to constantly berate the White House. Today, conservative podcasters like Bennie Johnson have filled Limbaugh’s shoes and were pleased after a House committee moved last month to hold the couple in contempt.

He asked, “Do you understand that Donald Trump fulfilled his oldest promise, which is that he told us all 10 years ago that Hillary Clinton would go to prison?” Johnson said last month.

However, some dynamics have changed.

The Clintons’ unwavering support among Democrats in Congress has eroded as a new generation of lawmakers takes office, with nine Democrats joining Republicans on a House committee to move forward with a contempt of court resolution. Trump, who has faced scrutiny over his ties to Epstein and may be uncomfortable with the precedent of forcing a former president to testify, expressed rare concern about the Clintons.

He told NBC News that “it bothers me that someone is going after Bill Clinton.” He called Hillary Clinton “a very capable woman.”

Even Hutchinson, who helped impeach Bill Clinton, expressed sympathy for the couple.

“It is frustrating and disappointing that President Clinton and Secretary Clinton have to go through this fact-finding ordeal,” he said. “This is difficult for them.”