Most congressional precedents emanate from Capitol Hill.

Most presidential precedents emerge from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

But a precedent which may echo around the halls of Congress and the White House for years materialized in recent days in the snow-covered, wooded village of Chappaqua, New York.

That’s where former President Bill Clinton testified under subpoena to the House Oversight Committee as part of its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. Lawmakers said the panel’s ability to compel testimony from a former president could establish a new precedent going forward — including in matters involving President Trump and the Epstein files.

According to congressional historians, never before has a congressional committee deposed a former president. It was rare enough to have former First Lady and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testify the day before. Republicans noted that former President Clinton had previously acknowledged knowing Epstein and traveling on trips that included him.

‘I do not recall ever encountering Mr. Epstein. I never flew on his plane or visited his island, homes or offices,’ said Hillary Clinton after nearly six hours of closed-door testimony before the panel.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said Hillary Clinton declared ‘‘You’ll have to ask my husband,’’ more than ‘a dozen’ times during her deposition ahead of Bill Clinton’s the following day.

There are no accusations of wrongdoing against either of the Clintons in connection with Epstein. But the former president’s past ties to Jeffrey Epstein have spurred questions from lawmakers.

‘It’s very difficult to get people in for these depositions of great power and great wealth,’ said Comer. ‘It took seven months, seven months to get the Clintons in here. But we’ve got them in here.’

‘Here’ was Chappaqua, about an hour north of New York City. The Clintons have resided in Chappaqua since President Clinton left office in 2001 and when Hillary Clinton ran for Senate from New York in 2000. Hillary Clinton served as a senator from New York from 2001 until 2009, when she became President Obama’s first Secretary of State.

More specifically, the ‘here’ for the Clintons’ testimony was not a bland office in the Rayburn House Office Building. House members questioned the Clintons at the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center, known locally as ‘ChappPAC,’ a white structure with simple arcades and Greek columns atop a hillside above the Saw Mill River.

The Epstein inquiry is serious, and the unusual venue underscored the extraordinary nature of the proceeding.

Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., appeared to snap a photo of Hillary Clinton during the deposition, then shared it with conservative media outlets.

‘I admire (Hillary Clinton’s) blue suit. So I wanted to capture that for everyone,’ said Boebert outside the venue.

‘Why did you send the picture?’ asked a reporter.

‘Why not?’ retorted Boebert.

‘We are sitting through an incredibly unserious, clown show of a deposition, where Members of Congress and the Republican Party are more concerned about getting their photo op of Secretary Clinton than actually getting to the truth and actually holding anyone accountable,’ charged Rep. Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz.

After concluding her testimony, Hillary Clinton told reporters she found the ‘end’ of the deposition to be ‘quite unusual because I started being asked about UFOs and a series of questions about Pizzagate, one of the most vile, bogus conspiracy theories that was propagated on the internet.’

That is a reference to a conspiracy theory that emerged during the 2016 presidential campaign between Hillary Clinton and President Trump. Proponents falsely claimed Democrats operated a child sex trafficking ring out of the Comet Ping Pong pizza shop in Washington. A North Carolina man later drove to Washington, D.C., and fired shots inside the restaurant, telling authorities he was there to rescue children.

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-N.C., asserted that Hillary Clinton was ‘screaming’ at lawmakers during the deposition.

‘She was unhinged,’ said Mace. ‘And I hope that President Clinton is less unhinged today than his wife was yesterday.’

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., emerged from the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center about 90 minutes into former President Clinton’s deposition to speculate about what may have been behind Epstein and his sex trafficking operation. Luna noted she was speaking only for herself and not other members of the committee.

‘It has become very evident even in the last 24 hours in lines of questioning that Jeffrey Epstein was running an intelligence gathering operation,’ said Luna. ‘I do believe it was a honey pot operation.’

Luna added that it was possible a U.S. intelligence ally was involved, though she provided no evidence for the claim.

One of the five agreed-upon areas of questioning for the Clintons was how Epstein used his connections with powerful figures to hide his crimes. That is why individuals such as former President Clinton and President Trump have surfaced in previously released Epstein-related documents.

The presidency is a unique office, and even President Trump expressed some sympathy for Bill Clinton’s appearance before the Oversight Committee.

‘I don’t like seeing him deposed. But they certainly went after me a lot more than that,’ said the president.

When pressed on Friday, President Trump said he was unfamiliar with the Epstein files.

‘I don’t know anything about the Epstein files. I’ve been totally exonerated,’ said President Trump.

Oversight Committee Republicans were asked whether they agreed with that claim.

‘From all the evidence I’ve seen he’s been exonerated for a long time,’ replied Comer.

‘The Epstein victims have exonerated President Trump. This is a trope that you guys are — a rabbit hole you guys are going down. But he’s been exonerated over and over again by Epstein victims,’ said Mace.

But Democrats questioned why the committee sought testimony from former President Clinton and not President Trump.

‘There is a lot of email correspondence that included President Clinton,’ said Comer.

Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the Oversight panel, argued the move set a broader standard.

‘There’s a precedent now,’ said Garcia. ‘We now want President Trump to come in and to testify under oath in front of the Oversight Committee. We want the First Lady, who we know had a relationship as well with Jeffrey Epstein, to come under oath and testify to the Oversight Committee. That is the new precedent that Republicans wanted to set here.’

Garcia added that President Trump ‘has not been exonerated, and we have serious questions for President Trump.’

Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va., argued that the committee spoke ‘to the wrong president.’

It is unclear whether the panel will seek testimony from President Trump. Democrats have indicated they would consider doing so if they gain control of the House in the fall midterm elections.

Separation of powers is a key component of America’s constitutional system. Only a handful of presidents have ever testified before Congress — and none had previously been deposed as a former president.

The nation’s history includes small communities that have taken on outsized political significance. Lawmakers and legal observers say Chappaqua could now join that list if presidential testimony before Congress becomes more common.

Some House Republicans are getting worried over the prospect of colleagues quiet-quitting after losing their primary races as election season heats up, threatening to whittle down the GOP’s already perilously slim majority.

House Republicans will likely only be able to lose two votes on any party-line measure after a special election in a deep-red Georgia district this week. 

Some told Fox News Digital they’re worried, however, that their colleagues could begin missing key votes before the end of their terms if their ambitions for higher office do not go as planned.

‘It’s a real problem,’ one House Republican who was granted anonymity to speak candidly told Fox News Digital. ‘Is one of them going to be gone for his runoff? Will another not come back at all because he’s mad? Is another one not going to come back because he lost?’

Asked if such absences could translate to Republicans losing a functional majority in the House, that GOP lawmaker said, ‘We could, that’s why everybody’s nervous about it.’

In the Lone Star State alone, two House Republicans are guaranteed not to be returning next year after last week’s primaries. Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, lost his bid to unseat Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who is headed for a runoff with state Attorney General Ken Paxton. And Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, faced an upset against a primary challenger running to his right, conservative state lawmaker Steve Toth.

Neither has indicated they will be skipping House votes for the remainder of the term due to those losses, but Hunt’s attendance record has already generated frustration among his colleagues.

Aside from them, there are 18 other House Republicans currently vying for different positions in upcoming primaries and general elections.

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., a high-ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, told Fox News Digital that he too was worried about GOP attendance as election season heats up.

‘Our margins are as razor-thin as they can possibly be, so we need everybody to show up,’ he said. ‘So yeah, that could potentially be an issue. I hope it isn’t.’

Rep. Russell Fry, R-S.C., told Fox News Digital, ‘I think it’s a concern.’

‘I hope that they recognize the moment. There’s still a lot of lane left in this Congress, and people have put their faith in their elected representatives to get the job done. So they need to be here,’ Fry said.

But the election season starting up is not the first time this Congress — or even this year — that worries about the GOP’s margins have flared up.

For example, a small group of Republicans was able to join with Democrats to successfully force a vote on extending expired Obamacare subsidies that the GOP largely opposed. And just last month, President Donald Trump’s tariff strategy faced a public setback when a similarly small number of GOP lawmakers voted with Democrats to rebuke it.

Neither of those measures will likely be taken up in the Republican-held Senate, but it’s a testament to the slim margins Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is presiding over.

And aside from the legislative setbacks seen earlier this year, the sudden, tragic death of one House Republican and abrupt resignation of another have served to further whittle down the conference’s numbers.

Car accidents and other health problems have also at times forced the House to amend its schedule. It’s prompted House GOP leaders to warn their lawmakers to be as cautious as possible when outside of Washington.

‘The margins are really, really close. A few of us were in a car the other day, driving … if that became an accident, that would have tipped the scale,’ Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., told Fox News Digital back in January. ‘It’s a big deal to change power outside of a normal election cycle.’

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told reporters last week that attendance is ‘always a concern’ but was optimistic about navigating through it.

‘We’ve had elections along the way, and yet we’re still able to move our agenda,’ Scalise said. ‘We track people that have surgeries, tell us in advance, and we work around that. But at the end of the day, we’ve been able to move President Trump’s agenda and our agenda, and get the things done for the American people that we ran on.’

Vietnam’s trade ministry is urging businesses to encourage employees to work from home to curb fuel consumption as the country grapples with supply disruptions and sharp price increases triggered by the U.S.-Israeli war involving Iran.

In a statement on Tuesday, the government said Vietnam has been among the nations hardest hit by the turmoil due to its heavy reliance on energy imports from the Middle East. Citing a report from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, it called on companies to ‘encourage work-from-home when possible to reduce the need for travel and transportation.’

Fuel prices have surged since the end of last month, with gasoline up 32%, diesel rising 56% and kerosene climbing 80%, according to data from Petrolimex, the country’s top fuel trader. Long lines of cars and motorbikes were seen at petrol stations in Hanoi on Tuesday.

The ministry also urged businesses and individuals not to hoard or speculate on fuel.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Minh on Monday held calls with leaders of Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to secure additional fuel and crude oil supplies. The government has also removed import tariffs on fuels through the end of April in a bid to ease pressure on the market.

President Donald Trump’s strikes on Iran have made for volatile crude markets, with prices surging to $120 a barrel in the U.S. over the weekend before dipping back to just over $80 on Monday night as Trump spoke to a Republican retreat in Florida.

Prices have stabilized after Trump assured investors the Strait of Hormuz will be safe for oil tankers in the Middle East, a notorious chokepoint for the largely dismantled Iranian regime.

The situation in the region remains tenuous as Iran has announced Mojtaba Khamenei as the next supreme leader, a decision that Trump told Fox News that he ‘was not happy’ about.

‘I don’t believe he can live in peace,’ Trump said from Air Force One.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said Tuesday they would not let any oil out of the Middle East until U.S. and Israeli attacks cease, a threat that had prompted Trump to threaten to hit Iran ’20 times harder’ if it blocked exports.

Despite the defiant rhetoric from both sides, investors placed strong bets Tuesday that Trump would call off his war soon, before the unprecedented disruption it has caused to energy supplies causes a global economic meltdown.

‘I’m hearing they want to talk badly,’ Trump said, as the Department of War has claimed 50 Iranian naval vessels have been sunk and Trump is suggesting the war objections are weeks ahead of schedule, if not nearly ‘complete.’

‘It’s possible,’ Trump added of engaging the new Iranian leadership, descendants of the deceased leaders, but said it ‘depends on what terms, possible, only possible.’

‘You know, we sort of don’t have to speak anymore, you know, if you really think about it, but it’s possible,’ he said.

Fox News’ Trey Yingst and Reuters contributed to this report.

Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations Amir-Saeid Iravani condemned U.S. strikes against Iran that targeted the country’s military leadership and killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, calling the attack a double standard and promising the country would defend itself at a U.N. Security Council meeting Saturday.

Iravani accused the U.S. of undermining its claims of pursuing international stability while attacking a sovereign country for its ‘domestic’ activities.

‘Neither the charter nor international law recognize internal matters of a state as justification for the use of force by other states. The rule of law would be replaced by the rule of force,’ Iravani said.

‘Iran will continue to exercise its right of self-defense decisively and without hesitation until the aggression ceases in full and unequivocal terms.’

On Saturday morning, President Donald Trump ordered the execution of Operation Epic Fury, citing Tehran’s continued efforts to develop a nuclear weapon.

‘It has always been the policy of the United States, in particular my administration, that this terrorist regime can never have a nuclear weapon. I’ll say it again. They can never have a nuclear weapon,’ Trump said in remarks about the attack Saturday.

Trump said the strikes were meant to ‘defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime’ and that they had come after Iran had refused to abandon plans to develop nuclear capabilities.

Iravani called the attack a continuation of longstanding U.S. aggression against Iran.

‘Mr. president, this morning the United States regime, jointly and in coordination with the Israeli regime, initiated an unprovoked and premeditated aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran for the second time in recent months,’ Irvani said, referring to strikes the U.S. carried out against its nuclear enrichment sites last year.

‘The president of the United States and the prime minister of the Israeli regime have openly claimed responsibility for this act of aggression and have explicitly articulated regime change as their objective, an unmistakable admission of their intent to violate Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.’

U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz pushed back on Iravani’s characterizations.

‘For 47 years, the Iranian regime has chanted, quote, ‘Death to America’ at every turn. At every opening, it has sought to eradicate the state of Israel. It has waged an unending campaign of bloodshed and mass murder,’ Waltz said.

Iravani did not address the negotiations between the U.S. and Iran on its nuclear development plans.

Iran entered a new chapter Saturday after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed, abruptly ending more than three decades of authoritarian rule and setting in motion a leadership transition the regime has long prepared.

A senior Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel that while Khamenei’s demise is a ‘massive blow’ to the Islamic Republic, Tehran anticipated the possibility and took steps to withstand such a scenario.

‘Mere survival, at this point, would be considered a victory,’ the diplomat said of the regime, according to the outlet, following U.S. and Israeli strikes across the country.

A recent report from the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) outlined three broad trajectories for a post-Khamenei Iran: managed regime continuity, an overt or creeping military takeover, or systemic collapse.

CFR cautioned that even a leadership change at the top would not necessarily translate into meaningful political reform in the near term, given the regime’s deeply institutionalized power structure and its record of using force to maintain control.

The report notes that the real balance of power rests within a tight circle of clerical elites and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

It describes a likely ‘continuity’ scenario as producing ‘Khamenei-ism without Khamenei,’ in which a successor from within the regime preserves the ideological framework of the Islamic Republic while relying on established security institutions to preserve stability.

‘The Islamic Republic’s constitution includes a succession process. The Assembly of Experts, a clerical body, is constitutionally charged with selecting the next supreme leader,’ Jason Brodsky, policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), told Fox News Digital. 

‘In the interim, should there be a leadership vacancy, an interim leadership council is formed comprised of the president, chief justice, and a member of the Guardian Council selected by the Expediency Council,’ he added. ‘The IRGC is a key stakeholder in this process, and will heavily influence its outcome.’

Over the past three decades, the Bayt-e Rahbari, or the Office of the Supreme Leader, expanded into what a February report by UANI described as a ‘sprawling parallel state’ operating alongside Iran’s formal institutions.

The analysis characterizes the Office as the regime’s ‘hidden nerve center,’ extending control across the military, security establishment and major economic foundations in ways that make the system’s authority institutional rather than dependent on Khamenei’s physical presence.

‘The supreme leader today is no longer just one man; he is represented through an all-encompassing institution that consolidates power, manages succession, and guarantees continuity,’ the non-partisan policy organization said. ‘The Islamic Republic’s most enduring strength lies in this hidden architecture of control, which will continue to shape the country’s future long after Khamenei himself departs from the scene.’

New York City’s socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing blowback from conservatives on social media over his post condemning the U.S. attack on Iran that led to the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

On Saturday, as a joint strike on Iran by the United States and Israel was developing, Mamdani blasted the Trump administration’s decision in a post on X that has been viewed roughly 20 million times. 

‘Today’s military strikes on Iran — carried out by the United States and Israel — mark a catastrophic escalation in an illegal war of aggression,’ Mamdani wrote.

‘Bombing cities. Killing civilians. Opening a new theater of war. Americans do not want this. They do not want another war in pursuit of regime change.’

Mamdani said Americans prefer ‘relief from the affordability crisis’ before speaking directly to Iranians in New York City.

‘You are part of the fabric of this city — you are our neighbors, small business owners, students, artists, workers, and community leaders,’ Mamdani said. ‘You will be safe here.’

The post was quickly slammed by conservatives on social media making the case that Mamdani’s response appeared sympathetic to Iran’s brutal regime and pointing to his lack of public reaction to the Iranian protesters killed in recent years.

‘Comrade Mayor is rooting for the Ayatollah,’ GOP Sen. Ted Cruz posted on X. ‘They can chant together.’

‘Do u say anything pro American ?’ Fox News host Brian Kilmeade posted on X. ‘do u know any Iranians – ? they hate @fr_Khamenei they celebrate his death, you should be celebrating his death ! hes killed thousands of American’s and just killed 30k Iranians, did u even say a word about that? You are an embarrassment !! Please quit.’

‘I don’t feel safe in New York listening to someone like you, Mamdani, who sympathizes with the regime that killed more than 30,000 unarmed Iranians in less than 24 hours,’ Iranian American journalist Masih Alinejad posted on X. 

‘We Iranians do not allow you to lecture us about war while you had nothing to say when the Islamic Republic shot schoolgirls and blinded more than 10,000 innocent people in the streets. You were busy celebrating the hijab while women of my beloved country Iran were jailed and raped by Islamic Security forces for removing it. 

‘And NOW you find your voice to defend the regime? No. I will not let you claim the moral high ground. The people of Iran want to be free. Where were you when they needed solidarity?’

‘How is it that you can’t differentiate between good and evil?’ Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman posted on X. ‘Why is this so hard for you?’

‘It takes a particular kind of audacity, or ignorance, for a city mayor to appoint himself the conscience of American foreign policy while his constituents step over garbage on their way to work,’ GOP Rep. Nancy Mace posted on X. ‘History will not remember his bravery. It will not remember him at all.’

‘Iranian New Yorkers are thrilled today and see right through you,’ Republican New York City Councilwoman Vickie Paladino posted on X. 

‘When Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, UAE, Bahrain all support today’s operation eliminating world’s #1 sponsor of terror, but New York City’s Mayor @ZohranMamdani is shilling for Iran,’ Republican New York City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov posted on X. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani’s office for comment.

Shortly after Mamdani’s post, it was announced by President Trump and Israeli officials that the military operation resulted in Khamenei’s death.

Israeli leaders confirmed Khamenei’s compound and offices were reduced to rubble early Saturday after a targeted strike in downtown Tehran.

‘Khamenei was the contemporary Middle East’s longest-serving autocrat. He did not get to be that way by being a gambler. Khamenei was an ideologue, but one who ruthlessly pursued the preservation and protection of his ideology, often taking two steps forward and one step back,’ Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of FDD’s Iran program, told Fox News Digital.