House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) said Wednesday he would move to hold former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress over her failure to appear for a deposition related to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.
“I think what’s most disappointing to the Oversight Committee is the fact that we have, in good faith, negotiated with the Clintons’ attorney for five months. Throughout the past five months, they’ve implied to us they are trying to make a date work,” Comer said.
The committee will consider a resolution to hold Clinton in contempt, along with her husband, former President Bill Clinton, who also did not appear for Tuesday’s deposition.
The Hill reported:
The Oversight panel had subpoenaed the Clintons in a bipartisan vote last summer, along with a tranche of former attorneys general, FBI directors and other government officials. Most of those subpoenaed were not called in after they told the committee in sworn statements that they had no relevant information to the panel’s investigation.
The Clintons in a joint letter to Comer on Tuesday argued the subpoenas were legally invalid, and accused Comer of not doing enough to ensure the Department of Justice complied with a law to release materials related to the Epstein investigation.
“President and Secretary Clinton have already provided the limited information they possess about Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell to the Committee,” lawyers for the Clintons wrote.
“They did so proactively and voluntarily, and despite the fact that the Subpoenas are invalid and legally unenforceable, untethered to a valid legislative purpose, unwarranted because they do not seek pertinent information, and an unprecedented infringement on the separation of powers.”
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), noting he would support such a resolution to hold the Clintons in contempt, said, “I think clearly, he’s defied a subpoena of Congress. I’m not sure what the other remedy would be. … It’s a contempt. It shows contempt for Congress, and he’s not spoken to that issue to any extent. And I think the people are owed answers.”
