A House committee advanced resolutions Wednesday to hold former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress over the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, opening the prospect of the House using one of its most powerful punishments against a former president for the first time.
In bipartisan votes, the Republican-controlled House Oversight Committee approved the contempt of Congress charges, setting up potential votes in the House. Democrats were split on the measures, with a number of progressive lawmakers calling for full transparency in the Epstein investigation even if it meant threatening a former Democratic president if he refuses to testify.
The resolutions are an initial step toward a criminal prosecution by the Department of Justice that, if successful, could send the Clintons to prison in a dispute over compelling them to testify before the House Oversight Committee.
Rep. James Comer, the chairman, said at the start of the committee's hearing that Clintons had responded not with "cooperation but defiance."
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"Subpoenas are not mere suggestions, they carry the force of law and require compliance," said Comer, R-Ky.
The Clintons argue that the subpoenas are invalid. Bill Clinton, President Donald Trump and many others connected to Epstein have not been accused of wrongdoing. Yet lawmakers are wrestling over who receives the most scrutiny.
Nonetheless, there were signs of a potential thaw as the Clintons appeared to be searching for an off-ramp to testify. In addition, passage of contempt charges through the full House was far from guaranteed, requiring a majority vote — something Republicans increasingly struggle to achieve.
The repercussions of contempt charges loomed large, given the possibility of a substantial fine and even incarceration.
While the charges have historically been used only as a last resort, lawmakers in recent years have been more willing to reach for the option. Comer initiated the contempt proceedings after the Clintons refused for months to fulfill a committee subpoena for their testimony in its Epstein investigation.
The clash was the latest turn in the Epstein saga as Congress investigates how he was able to sexually abuse dozens of teenage girls for years. Epstein killed himself in 2019 in a New York jail cell while awaiting trial. The public release of case files has shown details of the connections between Epstein and both Bill Clinton and Trump, among many other high-powered men.
Comer rejected an offer Tuesday from a lawyer for the Clintons to have Comer and the top Democrat on the committee, Rep. Robert Garcia of California, interview Bill Clinton in New York, along with staff.
How the Clintons have responded
The Clintons released a letter last week criticizing Comer for seeking their testimony at a time when the Justice Department is running a month behind a congressionally mandated deadline to release its complete case files on Epstein.
Behind the scenes, however, longtime Clinton lawyer David Kendall has tried to negotiate an agreement. Kendall raised the prospect of having the Clintons testify on Christmas and Christmas Eve, according to the committee's account of the negotiations.
The Clintons, who contend the subpoenas are invalid because they do not serve any legislative purpose, also say they did not know about Epstein's abuse. They have offered the committee written declarations about their interactions with Epstein.
"We have tried to give you the little information we have. We've done so because Mr. Epstein's crimes were horrific," the Clintons wrote Comer last week.
RELATED STORY | DOJ is now a month late in releasing all of its Epstein investigation files
How contempt proceedings have been used
Contempt of Congress proceedings are rare, used when lawmakers are trying to force testimony for high-profile investigations, such as the infamous inquiry during the 1940s into alleged Communist sympathizers in Hollywood or the impeachment proceedings of President Richard Nixon.
Most recently, Trump's advisers Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon were convicted of contempt charges for defying subpoenas from a House panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot by a mob of the Republican president's supporters at the Capitol. Both Navarro and Bannon spent months in prison.
The Jan. 6 committee also subpoenaed Trump in its inquiry. Trump's lawyers resisted the subpoena, citing decades of legal precedent they said shielded ex-presidents from being ordered to appear before Congress. The committee ultimately withdrew its subpoena.
No former president has ever been successfully forced to appear before Congress, although some have voluntarily appeared.
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The Democrats' response
Democrats have largely been focused on advancing the investigation into Epstein rather than mounting an all-out defense of the Clintons, who led their party for decades. They have said Bill Clinton should inform the committee if he has any pertinent information about Epstein's abuses.
A wealthy financier, Epstein donated to Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign and Hillary Clinton's joint fundraising committee ahead of her 2000 Senate campaign in New York.
"No president or former president is above the law," Garcia said at the committee hearing.
Democrats spent the hearing criticizing Comer for focusing on the Clintons when the Justice Department is behind schedule on releasing the Epstein files. Comer has also allowed several former attorneys general to provide the committee with written statements attesting to their limited knowledge of the case.
The committee had also subpoenaed Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's longtime confidant who is serving a lengthy prison sentence for a conviction on sex trafficking charges.
"It's interesting that it's this subpoena only that Republicans and the chairman have been obsessed about putting all their energy behind," Garcia said.
Comer said the committee will interview Maxwell next month. Attorney General Pam Bondi will also appear before the House Judiciary Committee in February.
Democrats embraced the call for full transparency on Epstein after Trump's return to the White House, particularly after Bondi stumbled on her promise to release the entirety of the unredacted Epstein files to the public. The backlash scrambled traditional ideological lines, leading Republicans to side with Democrats demanding further investigation.
The pressure eventually resulted in a bipartisan subpoena from the committee that ordered the Justice Department and Epstein estate to release files related to Epstein. Republicans quickly moved to include the Clintons in the subpoena.
Comer has indicated that he will insist that the subpoena be fulfilled by nothing less than a transcribed deposition of Bill Clinton.
"You have to have a transcript in an investigation," he said. "So no transcript, no deal."
