Former US Democrat president Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary, have been ordered to give testimony as part of an investigation into billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s criminal activities. The Republican-controlled House Oversight Committee has subpoenaed Bill, 78, and Hilary, 77, to submit depositions as part of an enquiry into Epstein’s links to high-profile figures in the US and around the world. The Clintons are among a number of high-profile individuals being issued the subpoenas, as the committee is looking for more information about Epstein.

The note from the committee outlines ties between Mr Clinton and Epstein, as well as Ghislaine Maxwell, who was the financier’s former girlfriend and is now serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking. Maxwell was recently moved to a minimum-security prison in Texas, having previously been held at a facility with stricter controls on inmates.

The Telegraph reports the committee letter to Mr Clinton states: “By your own admission, you flew on Jeffrey Epstein’s private plane four separate times in 2002 and 2003.

“During one of these trips, you were even pictured receiving a ‘massage’ from one of Mr Epstein’s victims.”

A subpoena cover letter to Mrs Clinton, the former US Secretary of State, continued: “Your family appears to have had a close relationship with both Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell.”

The committee ordered Mrs Clinton to appear for a deposition on October 9 and the former president on October 14.

Mr Clinton was among a number of individuals acquainted with Epstein, a wealthy financier, before the criminal investigation against him in Florida became public two decades ago. Clinton has never been accused of wrongdoing by any of the women who say Epstein abused them. Both the Clintons have denied any wrongdoing.

Donald Trump, whose administration has angered both some of the president’s supporters and liberals by deciding against releasing more federal files on the disgraced financier, has said he had no prior knowledge of Epstein’s crimes and said he had cut off their relationship before any allegations surfaced.

The House Oversight Committee has also subpoenaed eight former top law enforcement officials – including former attorneys general from the last three presidential administrations: Merrick Garland, William Barr, Jeff Sessions, Loretta Lynch, Eric Holder and Alberto Gonzales.

The committee’s actions showed how even with lawmakers away from Washington on a month-long break, interest in the Epstein files is still running high.

Trump has denied prior knowledge of Epstein’s crimes and claimed he cut off their relationship long ago, and he has repeatedly tried to move past the Justice Department’s decision not to release a full accounting of the investigation. But lawmakers from both major political parties, as well as many in the Republican president’s political base, have refused to let it go.

Rep. James Comer, the Republican chairman of the oversight committee, noted in letters to Attorney General Pam Bondi and the former officials that the cases of Epstein and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell “have received immense public interest and scrutiny.”

He said: “While the Department undertakes efforts to uncover and publicly disclose additional information related to Mr. Epstein and Ms. Maxwell’s cases, it is imperative that Congress conduct oversight of the federal government’s enforcement of sex trafficking laws generally and specifically its handling of the investigation and prosecution of Mr. Epstein and Ms. Maxwell.”