The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Wednesday advanced resolutions to hold former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress after both declined to appear for depositions in the panel’s investigation into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The committee voted 34-8 to advance the resolution holding Bill Clinton in contempt and 28-15 on the measure holding Hillary Clinton in contempt.
In his opening statement, Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) said he expected “bipartisan support” for enforcing the subpoenas.
The Hill reports:
“No witness — not a former president nor a private citizen — may willfully defy a duly-issued congressional subpoena without consequence,” Comer said. “But that is what the Clintons did, and that is why we are here today.”
Comer later said he expects the contempt resolutions to pass the full House.
“Make no mistake, to the Clintons and their lawyers, this bill will pass and I believe it will pass the Democrat vote, even though I’ve heard Democrat leadership is whipping to try to get you all to vote ‘no’ on this,” he said. “They have had five months to comply with this, and to defend the indefensible and try to act like Bill Clinton’s a victim here, I think is a stretch.”
The committee’s chair and ranking member also disputed a recent offer from the Clintons’ lawyers to provide testimony from the couple in a closed meeting.
Comer said the lawyers would not permit an official transcript of the deposition. The former president and former secretary of state have already submitted written testimony to the committee.
The committee vote is the first step in a process that could potentially lead to the Department of Justice charging the Clintons. The next step is consideration on the House floor, which could take up the resolutions as soon as the first week of February.
The Oversight panel voted on a bipartisan basis last year to subpoena the Clintons — along with several other former government officials — after the committee launched an investigation connected to Epstein. The Clintons had personal friendships with Epstein. But after months of negotiations, both declined to appear for in-person depositions Comer scheduled for last week.
The Clintons argue they have already provided the committee with all the information they have about Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell. They submitted sworn statements saying they had no knowledge of criminal activities involving the two, and they argue the subpoenas were invalid.
“President and Secretary Clinton have already provided the limited information they possess about Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell to the Committee,” the Clintons’ lawyers wrote in a letter last week. “They did so proactively and voluntarily, and despite the fact that the Subpoenas are invalid and legally unenforceable, untethered to a valid legislative purpose, unwarranted because they do not seek pertinent information, and an unprecedented infringement on the separation of powers.”
Attorneys for the Clintons made a last-minute attempt over the weekend to avoid the contempt vote, proposing an interview with only the former president at his office in New York, with only Comer, Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), a handful of staff and no other members of Congress.
Comer publicly rejected the offer Tuesday, saying the Clintons’ attorneys were trying to avoid a transcript of the conversation
This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
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Nothing will happen to them, that is a promise. They are protected from all laws, just like the rest of the politicians.
For some reason, both of the Clintons have been permitted to skate on their criminality for many many years.