Republicans Seek To Hold Bill Clinton In Contempt After He Refuses To Testify On Epstein

Former President Bill Clinton refused to testify before the House Oversight Committee on Tuesday after he and former first lady Hillary Clinton were subpoenaed to appear for a closed-door hearing on their relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

House Oversight Republicans, led by Kentucky Rep. James Comer, said they will seek to hold the former president in contempt of Congress next week.

“As a result of Bill Clinton not showing up for his lawful subpoena, which again was voted unanimously by the committee in a bipartisan manner, we will move next week in the House Oversight Committee markup to hold former President Clinton in contempt of Congress,” Comer said.

“I think everyone knows by now Bill Clinton did not show up,” Comer added. “No one’s accusing Bill Clinton of any wrongdoing. We just have questions. And that’s why the Democrats voted, along with Republicans, to subpoena Bill Clinton.”

Hillary Clinton is scheduled to testify on Wednesday, but it also appears that she will not comply with the subpoena, according to a letter the Clintons sent to Comer.

“Every person has to decide when they have seen or had enough and are ready to fight for this country, its principles and its people, no matter the consequences,” the Clintons wrote in the letter, according to The New York Times. “For us, now is that time.”

The lengthy letter, which was sent by the Clintons’ attorneys, argued that the former president and first lady had “already provided the limited information they possess about Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell to the Committee.” They also claimed that the committee’s 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.”

The Clintons were initially scheduled to appear before Congress in mid-December, but Comer moved their testimonies to January 13 and 14 to accommodate their funeral obligation. After receiving a subpoena to appear before the committee, the Clintons’ lawyer asked if they could submit “a written proffer of what little information” they have on Epstein. Comer denied that request in November and ordered the Clintons to appear for their depositions.

Epstein, whose past relationship with President Donald Trump has been scrutinized over the past year, was also friends with the Clintons. Bill Clinton traveled on Epstein’s infamous private jet with the disgraced financier and his associate Maxwell multiple times. Clinton was also photographed receiving a back massage from then-22-year-old Epstein accuser Chauntae Davies.

There is no evidence that Hillary traveled with Epstein, and neither Bill nor Hillary has been accused of any wrongdoing related to Epstein’s sex crimes. Bill Clinton’s relationship with Epstein, however, is back in the spotlight as the Department of Justice has begun releasing more files and photos from the Epstein estate. Some of the images show Clinton swimming in a pool alongside Maxwell, and in another, he is in a hot tub with a woman whose face is redacted.

President Trump, who also used to be a friend of Epstein’s, has accused Clinton of visiting Epstein’s island, a claim that Clinton denies. But Trump said last month that he didn’t like the pictures of Clinton being released to the public.

“I think Bill Clinton’s a big boy, he can handle it,” Trump said. “But you probably have pictures being exposed of other people that innocently met Jeffrey Epstein years ago … and they’re highly respected bankers and lawyers and others.”

In a statement responding to the photos, Clinton’s chief of staff, Angel Ureña, said that the former president “knew nothing and cut Epstein off before his crimes came to light.”

“The White House hasn’t been hiding these files for months only to dump them late on a Friday to protect Bill Clinton,” Ureña added. “This is about shielding themselves from what comes next, or from what they’ll try and hide forever. So they can release as many grainy, 20-plus-year-old photos as they want, but this isn’t about Bill Clinton. Never has, never will be.”