- The panel of representatives will hold ex-president Bill Clinton in contempt.
- James Comer cites Epstein White House visit, Clinton flights.
- Clintons call subpoenas partisan, accuse investigation of political motives.
Bill and Hillary Clinton on Tuesday refused to testify in a Republican-led congressional investigation into the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, saying it was a partisan exercise.
“Each person must decide when they have seen or had enough and are ready 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, now is that time.”
Comer said the committee will meet next week to hold former Democratic President Bill Clinton in contempt. It could potentially lead to criminal charges.
A spokesman for the committee said the panel will also file contempt proceedings against Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, if she does not appear before the panel on Wednesday.
The Clinton family said they had tried to provide what “little information” they had to help the investigation and accused Comer of shifting the focus away from the actions of the Trump administration. Epstein died in prison in 2019, during President Donald Trump’s first term in office, while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.
“If the government did not do everything it could 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 party politics,” they said.
Epstein White House visit and flight
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 had flown on Epstein’s plane about 27 times.
Clinton has expressed regret over the relationship and has said he knew nothing about Epstein’s criminal activity. No evidence has emerged that Clinton was involved in sex trafficking.
“No one is accusing Bill Clinton of any wrongdoing,” Comer said. “We just have questions.”
The US Justice Department has released files linked to criminal investigations into Epstein, who was once friends with Trump and the Clintons, in compliance with a transparency law passed by Congress.
A separate letter sent to the committee on Monday by the Clintons’ lawyers said the subpoenas for their testimony were invalid, unenforceable and “nothing more than a ploy to try to embarrass political rivals as directed by President Trump.”
