House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) moved to hold Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress on Wednesday, one day after signaling he would do so when her husband, former President Bill Clinton, declined to appear for a deposition.
Oversight Republicans had scheduled mandatory interviews with the former first couple for Jan. 13 and 14 — but the Clintons informed Comer that they would decline to answer any questions in person about their “personal relationship” with deceased pedophile Jeffrey Epstein
“I think what’s most disappointing to the Oversight Committee is the fact that we have, in good faith, negotiated with the Clintons’ attorney for five months,” Comer said Tuesday. “Throughout the past five months, they’ve implied to us they are trying to make a date work.”
Chairman James Comer said, “I think what’s most disappointing to the Oversight Committee is the fact that we have, in good faith, negotiated with the Clintons’ attorney for five months.” REUTERS“We’re going to hold both Clintons in criminal contempt of Congress,” the GOP chairman noted, adding that Democrats “wanted the Clintons to come” too — though none appeared for the scheduled depositions with Bill or Hillary Clinton.
“These subpoenas issued to the Clintons are not suggestions. They are legally required to appear. They are not above the law,” Comer also posted on X, noting contempt proceedings in his committee will be held on Jan. 21.
The former president and ex-secretary of state in a Tuesday letter lashed out at Comer and Oversight Republicans for “trying to punish those who you see as your enemies and to protect those you think are your friends,” while calling their subpoenas “invalid and legally unenforceable.”
In written declarations attached to the letter, both said they could not recall interactions with Epstein when they were holding public office, and Bill Clinton said he had only limited contact with him shortly after by using his private jet for “philanthropic and life-saving humanitarian efforts.”
Comer told reporters: “There are records that would imply that Epstein helped raise money for the Clinton Foundation.”
Members of the Oversight panel voted in a bipartisan fashion last year to subpoena the Clintons and half a dozen other former Attorneys General, FBI Directors and other federal officials for questioning about the Department of Justice’s investigative work on the Epstein case.
“The Clinton’s [sic] think they’re above the law but they’re not,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) posted on X.
Bill and Hillary Clinton accused Comer of trying to embarrass them by releasing the photos. AP“They must comply with congressional subpoenas and appear before the House of Representatives, or face arrest, conviction, and incarceration,” added the Kentucky Republican who co-authored a bill demanding the release of all Department of Justice investigative materials on Epstein and his convicted accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
“I suspect they’ve observed [Attorney General Pam] Bondi’s lack of resolve and have decided to test it.”
The DOJ has yet to release 99% of the so-called Epstein files. Officials so far have released 12,285 documents, comprising around 125,575 pages of investigative material, on its Epstein Library webpage.
Tens of thousands of other disclosures have been made by the Epstein estate to the Oversight Committee, which the panel has released.
Massie and Rep. Ro Khanna (R-Calif.) — who wrote the Epstein Files Transparency Act that President Trump signed into law on Nov. 19 — asked a Manhattan federal judge
The law mandated the release of all files on Epstein in the DOJ’s possession, with redactions to protect victims and prevent compromising federal law enforcement investigative activities.
Epstein, 66, was found dead in Manhattan jail what was later ruled a suicide on Aug. 10, 2019.
The Clintons in their written declaration to Comer submitted Monday accused the Oversight chairman of targeting them over other witnesses, even though they had “no personal knowledge” of Epstein or Maxwell’s sickening crimes.
Bill and Hillary Clinton also tore into Comer for choosing to “release irrelevant, decades-old photos that you hope will embarrass us” — after several pictures were put out by the Department of Justice and Oversight Committee showing the former president at dinners and on trips with Epstein and Maxwell.
“President and Secretary Clinton have already provided the limited information they possess about Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell to the Committee,” their lawyers wrote in a letter to the committee.
“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.”
