Former president Bill Clinton and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton refused to testify in the House’s Jeffrey Epstein investigation, prompting Republicans to move forward with contempt of Congress proceedings against the former president.
House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer (R., Ky.) confirmed the contempt proceedings on Tuesday, escalating a standoff between the Clintons and House investigators that has stretched on for months.
“We’ve communicated with President Clinton’s legal team for months now, giving them opportunity after opportunity to come in to give us a day, and they continue to delay, delay, delay. Delaying to the point where we had no idea whether they would show up today,” Comer said Tuesday.
In a joint letter to Comer provided to the New York Times, the Clintons said the committee’s demands were “invalid and legally unenforceable,” accusing Republicans of pursuing a politically motivated probe.
“There is no plausible explanation for what you are doing other than partisan politics,” they said.
The letter invoked President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration and the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots. “This past year has seen our Government engage in unprecedented acts, including against our own citizens. People have been seized from their homes, their workplaces, and the streets of their communities … The people who laid siege to the U.S. Capitol have been pardoned and called heroes,” the Clintons wrote.
The House subpoenaed the Clintons in August, and after a series of delays, Comer scheduled their depositions for this week without confirmation that the two would attend. If the House approves the contempt measure, it will be sent to the Justice Department, which will decide whether to pursue criminal charges. Hillary Clinton also faces potential consequences if, as her letter states, she fails to appear for her deposition on Wednesday.
“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. “For us, now is that time.”
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