By Naveen Athrappully
Contributing Writer
The House Oversight Committee voted on Wednesday to hold former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in criminal contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with subpoenas and testify in person in an inquiry into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
According to the committee, the Clintons were offered several dates to testify regarding the crimes perpetrated by Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, but repeatedly failed to make an appearance.
The committee voted 34-8 to hold the former president in contempt, and 28-15 to hold Hillary Clinton in contempt, with all 25 Republicans backing the contempt measures.
Nine Democrats, including Reps. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., voted to hold Bill Clinton in contempt, while three Democrats — Reps. Summer Lee, D-Pa., Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., and Tlaib — voted to hold Hillary Clinton in contempt.
“Chairman (James) Comer emphasized that the committee does not take this action lightly but must hold the Clintons accountable for refusing to comply with the subpoenas,” a Wednesday statement from the committee said.
“He noted that the Clintons’ testimony remains critical to understanding Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking network, the ways Epstein sought to curry favor and influence to evade scrutiny, and how Congress can strengthen laws to better combat human trafficking.
“Chairman Comer concluded that Congress must do what is necessary to uphold its investigative authority and demonstrate to the American people that justice is applied equally — regardless of position, pedigree, or prestige.”
Clintons’ Offer
Bill Clinton’s deposition was initially requested for Oct. 14, 2025, and Hillary Clinton’s for Oct. 9, 2025, and then moved to Dec. 17 and Dec. 18, respectively. However, they declined the new dates, citing the need to attend a funeral, following which the committee issued another subpoena with deposition dates set for Jan. 13 and 14, 2026, respectively.
The Clintons failed to make an appearance on these dates.
In a Jan. 13 letter posted on X, Bill Clinton said that the subpoenas are “legally invalid.”
“We have tried to give you the little information we have,” the Clintons wrote, adding that the committee accepted the least amount of information from “those who know the most but demand the most from those who know the least. To say you can’t complete your work without speaking to us is simply bizarre.”
The Clintons wrote that they were willing to defend themselves “in the public arena.”
In a Tuesday statement, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chairman of the committee, said that “the Clintons’ attorneys made an untenable offer where only the chairman and ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform would travel to New York to have a conversation with only former President Bill Clinton.”
Other committee members would be barred from participating in the interview, with only two staff allowed each for the chairman and ranking member, and there would be no official transcript.
Comer said in response: “The Clintons’ latest demands make clear they believe their last name entitles them to special treatment.
“The absence of an official transcript is an indefensible demand that is insulting to the American people who demand answers about Epstein’s crimes. As part of our investigation, the House Oversight Committee has released transcripts of interviews with former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr and former U.S. Secretary of Labor Alex Acosta, which has provided much needed transparency to the public. Without a formal record, Americans would be left to rely on competing accounts of what was said.
“Former Secretary Clinton’s on-the-record testimony is necessary for the committee’s investigation given her knowledge from her time as secretary of state of the federal government’s work to counter international sex-tracking rings, her personal knowledge of Ms. Maxwell, and her family’s relationship with Mr. Epstein.”
Contempt of Congress is a misdemeanor criminal charge that carries up to a year in jail and $100,000 in fines.
Epstein was found dead in a jail cell in 2019 following his arrest on sex trafficking charges. He had committed suicide by hanging, according to the local medical examiner’s office.
According to his indictment, he had sexually exploited and abused many underage girls between 2002 and 2005. Previously, in 2008, Epstein was convicted in a Florida state court for procuring a child for prostitution and soliciting a prostitute after pleading guilty.
Maxwell, Epstein’s girlfriend, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2022 for conspiring with him to sex traffic and abuse minors.
