Bill and Hillary Clinton have refused to cooperate with the House investigation into late convicted sex-offender Jeffery Epstein despite being threatened with being held in contempt.
The House Oversight Committee Republicans were demanding the former president appear for a deposition on Tuesday, but the Clintons pushed back.
“Every person has to decide when they have seen or had enough and are ready to fight for this country, its principles and its people, no matter the consequences,” the Clintons wrote in a letter to House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer. “For us, now is that time.”
The Clintons accused Comer of being politically motivated and embarking on a process “literally designed to result in our imprisonment.”
It was the latest move in a months-long battle between the former first couple and House Republicans investigating Epstein, who was an associate and was pictured multiple times with the former president.
“We are confident that any reasonable person in or out of Congress will see, based on everything we release, that what you are doing is trying to punish those who you see as your enemies and to protect those you think are your friends,” they wrote in the letter to Comer.
Comer had previously threatened multiple times to hold the Clintons in contempt of Congress should they refuse to appear for the depositions behind closed doors before his committee.
In response, the Kentucky lawmakers announced his committee would initiate contempt of Congress proceedings next week against the former president.
The Clintons’ lengthy letter on Tuesday also slammed a series of actions taken by the government under President Donald Trump, including its immigration crackdown, deployment of troops to U.S. cities and withholding funding.
The letter also noted that Comer was not among the group of four Republicans who joined with Democrats to force a vote to release the Epstein files. They said even now, Comer has not considered subpoenaing Attorney General Pam Bondi to follow the law directing the release of the full files.
The Clintons wrote that “bringing Republicans’ cruel agenda to a standstill” while they worked harder to pass contempt charges against them than they did on the investigation “would be our contribution to fighting the madness.”
The committee first approved subpoenas for the Clintons and eight other high-profile individuals on July 23. The subpoenas were issued on August 5.
Since those subpoenas were issued, the majority of the witnesses have been allowed to provide sworn statements to the investigation, as noted by the Clintons. However, Comer has refused to allow the Clintons to submit sworn statements, despite their offer to do so.
In a separate letter sent to Comer on Monday, the Clintons’ lawyers, Ashley Callen and David E. Kendall, argued that the subpoenas were “invalid and legally unenforceable, untethered to a legislative purpose.” They also said they were “unwarranted because they do not seek pertinent information, and an unprecedented infringement on the separation of powers.”
The Clintons’ lawyers claimed that despite that, their clients had already provided the “limited information they possess” about Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell to the committee.
They argued the confrontation between the committee and the Clintons distracts from the work of Congress, which could ensure justice for Epstein’s victims. They suggested “perhaps distraction is the point.”
The letter stated that the subpoenas themselves and the attempts to enforce them are “nothing more than a ploy to attempt to embarrass political rivals, as President Trump has directed.” It noted it was the president’s own post on December 26 that “embarrass” Democrats.
In response, Comer on Tuesday announced his committee would initiate contempt of Congress proceedings next week against the former president.
He not only slammed Clinton for being a no-show but also blasted Democrats on the House Oversight Committee for failing to show up for the scheduled deposition.
Committee Democrats pointed out on Tuesday that the Justice Department was “unlawfully withholding most of the files in its possession” and that only percent of those files had been released.
“Don’t get distracted,” they wrote on X.
Speaker Mike Johnson said the Clintons defying the subpoena is by definition a contempt of Congress.
Asked whether he believed Trump, another Epstein associate, should also go before the committee, the speaker dismissed it claiming Trump gives press conferences on a daily basis where he can be asked about it and the Clintons have not.
Johnson did not address that a deposition unlike Trump’s press conferences take place under oath.
