US House committee votes to hold Clintons in contempt in Epstein probe

The former Democratic politicians have declined to appear for depositions before Congress

The US House Oversight Committee voted on Wednesday to advance resolutions to hold former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress for refusing to testify in its probe into disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Nine Democrats joined Republicans in voting in favor of the resolution targeting Bill Clinton, while three Democrats backed the measure against Hillary Clinton. “By voting to hold the Clintons in contempt, the Committee sent a clear message: no one is above the law, and justice must be applied equally — regardless of position, pedigree, or prestige,” Committee Chairman James Comer said.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said he would next call for a full House vote. “I don’t know how else you would define it but contempt of Congress,” he said.

The Oversight panel subpoenaed the Clintons in August for depositions, but they declined to appear, arguing the subpoenas were “invalid and legally unenforceable” and that the investigation was biased.

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In a letter to Comer earlier this month, the Clintons said they had already shared all relevant information they possessed. “We’ve done so because Mr. Epstein’s crimes were horrific,” they wrote, adding that the focus should be on why authorities failed to fully investigate and prosecute those crimes.

Epstein was photographed socializing with numerous high-profile figures, including the Clintons and President Donald Trump, all of whom have denied any connection to his crimes.

Interest in the Epstein case surged last year after the FBI and the Department of Justice denied that Epstein kept a “client list” and said they found no foul play in his death in a Manhattan jail in 2019, which was ruled a suicide. Democrats and some Republicans have accused Trump of a cover-up, which he has dismissed as “the Epstein hoax.”