- A House panel decides to hold ex-President Bill Clinton in contempt.
- James Comer cites Epstein’s visits to the White House and Clinton’s flights.
- The Clintons call the subpoenas partisan and accuse the investigation of being politically motivated.
Bill and Hillary Clinton refused Tuesday to testify in a Republican-led congressional investigation into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, saying it was a partisan exercise.
“Everyone must decide whether they have seen enough or have had enough and whether they are prepared to fight for this country, its principles and its people, regardless of the consequences,” the Clintons wrote in a letter to Republican Rep. James Comer, who chairs the House Oversight Committee. “For us, this is the moment.”
Comer said the committee would meet next week to convict former Democratic President Bill Clinton of contempt. This could potentially lead to criminal charges.
A committee spokesperson said the committee would also begin contempt proceedings against Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, if she did not appear before the committee on Wednesday.
The Clintons said they tried to provide the “little information” they had to help the investigation and accused Comer of diverting attention from the Trump administration’s actions. Epstein died in prison in 2019, during President Donald Trump’s first term, while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.
“If the government has not done everything it can to investigate and prosecute these crimes, for whatever reason, that should be the focus of your work…There is no evidence that you are doing so,” the Clintons wrote.
“There is no plausible explanation for what you are doing other than partisan politics,” they said.
Epstein visits and flights to the White House
Comer said “most Americans” want Bill Clinton to answer questions about his ties to Epstein. The Kentucky Republican said Epstein visited the White House 17 times while Clinton was in office and that the former president took Epstein’s plane about 27 times.
Clinton expressed regret over the relationship and said he knew nothing of Epstein’s criminal activities. No evidence has come to light that Clinton was involved in sex trafficking.
“No one is accusing Bill Clinton of wrongdoing,” Comer said. “We just have questions.”
The U.S. Department of Justice released records related to criminal investigations against Epstein, who was once friends with Trump and the Clintons, in accordance with a transparency law passed by Congress.
Another letter sent to the committee Monday by the Clintons’ lawyers said the subpoenas for their testimony were invalid, unenforceable and “nothing more than a ploy to attempt to embarrass political rivals, as ordered by President Trump.”
