WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Former US president Bill Clinton and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton are calling for their congressional testimony on ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to be held publicly to prevent Republicans from politicising the issue.

The couple 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.

Hillary Clinton will appear for her deposition on February 26, while Bill Clinton will appear on February 27, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform said in a statement.

Democrats say the probe is being weaponized 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 Friday, 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.

Hillary Clinton, former 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 Thursday.

The Justice Department last week released the latest cache of so-called 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 Trump for president in 2016, said she had no meaningful interactions with Epstein, never flew on his plane and never visited his island.