House Committee Votes to Hold the Clintons in Contempt in Epstein Probe

The House Oversight Committee voted to recommend holding former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in contempt for refusing to testify in the panel’s Jeffrey Epstein investigation.

The committee on Wednesday advanced a pair of resolutions to hold the Clintons in contempt after they did not appear for depositions earlier this month. Nine Democrats voted with Republicans to advance the resolution to hold Bill Clinton in contempt, while three Democrats joined Republicans to support holding Hillary Clinton in contempt. 

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The nine Democrats who voted in favor of the Bill Clinton resolution are Reps. Maxwell Frost of Florida, Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois, Summer Lee of Pennsylvania, Stephen Lynch and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Emily Randall of Washington, Lateefah Simon of California, Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico, and Rashida Tlaib of Michican. Lee, Stansbury and Tlaib also voted for the Hillary Clinton resolution. 

Read more: Less Than 1% of the Epstein Files Have Been Released, DOJ Says

A full House vote for contempt could have serious legal consequences for the Clintons, as the Department of Justice could decide to prosecute the couple. The Clintons could be subject to up to $100,000 fines and one year in jail if convicted.

During the hearing, Lee, a progressive Democrat, also introduced an amendment to hold Attorney General Pam Bondi in contempt for not complying with the law that required the Department of Justice to release the full Epstein files by a Dec. 19 deadline. Comer disagreed during the hearing and said Bondi “is complying.” The amendment failed along party lines. 

In a statement following the votes, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer said on X that “no one is above the law” and that the Clintons “must be held accountable.”

“These bipartisan subpoenas for the Clintons were approved unanimously and issued more than five months ago as part of the Committee’s investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.”

House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Garcia continued to criticize Republicans after the votes for failing to hold Bondi accountable, saying in a post on X that they are only interested in “pursuing political enemies and bending the knee to Trump than getting justice for survivors.”

During the hearing, Comer also announced that disgraced socialite Ghislaine Maxwell is set to testify in Congress on Feb. 9, although she is also expected to plead the Fifth Amendment. 

“I hope she changes her mind, because I want to hear from her,” Comer said. 

Deputy Chief of Staff for former President Clinton Angel Ureña said in a statement that the former president had offered to meet Comer and Garcia in New York for an on-the-record interview “at a mutually convenient date and time,” and that the scope of the interview would only be limited to the Epstein investigation. Comer rejected the offer of an interview on Tuesday, setting the stage for Wednesday’s vote.