House Republicans are starting a push to hold Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress over the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.<\/b>
\nHouse Republicans are starting a push Wednesday to hold former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress over the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, opening the prospect of the House using one of its most powerful punishments against a former president for the first time.
The contempt proceedings are an initial step toward a criminal prosecution by the Department of Justice that, if successful, could send the Clintons to prison.
Still, ahead of a meeting Wednesday by the House Oversight Committee to prepare the charges, there were signs of a thaw. The Clintons, both Democrats, appeared to be searching for an off-ramp to testify, and passage of contempt charges through the full House was far from guaranteed, requiring a majority vote \u2014 something Republicans increasingly struggle to achieve.
The repercussions of contempt charges loomed large, given the possibility of a substantial fine and even incarceration. While the charges have historically been used only as a last resort, lawmakers in recent years have been more willing to reach for the option. The Oversight Committee chair, Rep, James Comer of Kentucky, initiated the contempt proceedings after the Clintons refused for months to fulfill a House Oversight Committee subpoena for their testimony in the panel\u2019s Epstein probe.
The clash was the latest turn in the unpredictable Epstein saga, as Congress investigates how he was able to sexually abuse dozens of teenage girls for years. Epstein killed himself in 2019 in a New York jail cell while awaiting trial. The public release of case files has shown details of the connections between Epstein and both Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, among many other high-powered men.
Clinton, Trump and many others connected to Epstein have not been accused of wrongdoing. Yet lawmakers are wrestling over who receives the most scrutiny.
\u201cThey\u2019re not above the law. We\u2019ve issued subpoenas in good faith,\u201d Comer told The Associated Press on the eve of the contempt proceedings. \u201cFor five months we\u2019ve worked with them. And time\u2019s up.\u201d
Comer rejected an offer Tuesday from an attorney for the Clintons to have Comer and the ranking Democrat on the committee, Rep. Robert Garcia, interview Bill Clinton in New York, along with staff.How the Clintons have responded
The Clintons released a scathing letter last week criticizing Comer for seeking their testimony at a time when the Department of Justice is running a month behind a congressionally mandated deadline to release its complete case files on Epstein.
Behind the scenes, however, a longtime attorney for the Clintons, David Kendall, has tried to negotiate an agreement. Kendall raised the prospect of having the Clintons testify last Christmas and Christmas Eve, according to the committee\u2019s account of the negotiations.
The Clintons have also argued that the subpoenas are invalid because they don\u2019t serve any legislative purpose and say that they did not know about Epstein\u2019s abuse. They have offered the committee written declarations about their interactions with Epstein.
\u201cWe have tried to give you the little information we have. We\u2019ve done so because Mr. Epstein\u2019s crimes were horrific,\u201d the Clintons wrote in a letter to Comer last week.How contempt proceedings have been used
Contempt of Congress proceedings are rare, used when lawmakers are trying to force testimony for high-profile investigations, such as the infamous inquiry during the 1940s into alleged Communist sympathizers in Hollywood or the impeachment proceedings of President Richard Nixon.
Most recently, Trump\u2019s advisers Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon were convicted of contempt charges for defying subpoenas from a House panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot by a mob of the Republican president\u2019s supporters at the Capitol. Both men spent months in prison.
The Jan. 6 committee also subpoenaed Trump in its inquiry, but Trump\u2019s lawyers resisted the subpoena, citing decades of legal precedent they said shielded ex-presidents from being ordered to appear before Congress. The committee ultimately withdrew its subpoena.
No former president has ever been successfully forced to appear before Congress, although some have voluntarily appeared.The Democrats\u2019 response
Democrats have largely been focused on advancing the investigation into Epstein rather than mounting an all-out defense of the Clintons, who led their party for decades. They\u2019ve said Bill Clinton should inform the committee if he has any pertinent information about Epstein\u2019s abuses.
A wealthy financier, Epstein donated to Bill Clinton\u2019s 1992 presidential campaign and Hillary Clinton\u2019s joint fundraising committee ahead of her 2000 Senate campaign in New York.
Democrats embraced the call for full transparency on Epstein after Trump\u2019s return to the White House, particularly after Attorney General Pam Bondi stumbled on her promise to release the entirety of the unredacted Epstein files to the public. The backlash scrambled traditional ideological lines, leading Republicans to side with Democrats demanding further investigation.
The pressure eventually resulted in a bipartisan subpoena from the committee that ordered the Justice Department and Epstein estate to release files related to Epstein. Republicans quickly moved to include the Clintons in the subpoena.
Comer indicated Tuesday that he would insist that the subpoena be fulfilled by a transcribed deposition of Bill Clinton.
\u201cYou have to have a transcript in an investigation,\u201d he said. \u201cSo no transcript, no deal.\u201d<\/p>\n