Congress Votes to Hold Clintons in Contempt Over Epstein Case
The House Oversight Committee voted to hold Bill and Hillary Clinton in contempt over Epstein subpoenas, sparking outrage and renewed scrutiny.
The House Oversight Committee voted Wednesday to hold former President Bill Clinton and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with subpoenas in the investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Now that the Republican-led committee, with the support of several Democrats, has approved the contempt resolution, it will be sent to the full House of Representatives for a vote.
If it passes the House, the matter will be referred to the Department of Justice.
The committee had subpoenaed both Clintons to testify about Epstein, with whom Bill Clinton was pictured in photographs from the 1990s and early 2000s.
Bill Clinton has never been accused of wrongdoing by Epstein's abuse victims, and he has denied having any knowledge of his sexual crimes.
The Clintons' lawyers had called the Oversight Committee's subpoenas "unenforceable" and said they had already provided the "limited information" they possessed about Epstein.
On Wednesday, nine Democrats voted with Republicans to hold Bill Clinton in contempt of Congress, while three Democrats voted to hold Hillary Clinton in contempt.
If the full House votes in favor, the Department of Justice will decide whether to prosecute the charges, which constitute a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $100,000 (£74,500) and up to one year in prison. In a statement, Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer urged the full House to hold Clinton in contempt, saying his committee had sent a "clear message" that "no one is above the law, and justice must apply equally to all—regardless of position, lineage, or reputation."
Clinton had argued that the subpoenas—legal orders to testify—"were nothing more than a ploy to embarrass political rivals at the direction of President Trump."
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In a letter to Comer,Clinton's lawyers said he had communicated "actively and voluntarily" with the committee and that the subpoenas "were not connected to any legitimate legislative purpose, were improper because they did not seek relevant information, and constituted an unprecedented violation of the separation of powers."
Bill Clinton appears in photos taken at the late financier Jeffrey Epstein's estate, which were recently released by the Justice Department after Congress passed a law requiring the agency to release materials related to the Epstein investigation. One photo shows the former president swimming in a pool, and another shows him lying on his back in a hot tub with his hands behind his head.
Clinton's spokesperson, Angel Ureña, said when the photos were released that they were decades old and that Clinton had severed ties with Epstein before the financier's crimes came to light.
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