House Oversight Moving Ahead With Contempt Vote After Clintons Blow Off Subpoenas
The House Oversight Committee is moving forward with plans to hold former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress after both declined to comply with subpoenas related to the ongoing congressional investigation into financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) said Tuesday that the panel will consider resolutions on Jan. 21 recommending that the full House find the Clintons in contempt for failing to appear for scheduled depositions. Former President Clinton was subpoenaed to testify on Jan. 13 and did not appear, and the committee said Hillary Clinton also failed to comply with her Jan. 14 subpoena.
Comer said the Clintons’ legal team made what he called “untenable” counterproposals, including an offer that Comer and the committee’s ranking member travel to New York to speak with Bill Clinton privately without a formal transcript or participation by other members. Comer rejected the proposal, saying official, on-the-record testimony is necessary.
Comer said contempt proceedings will begin on Wednesday.
“Facing contempt of Congress, the Clintons’ lawyers made an untenable offer: that I travel to New York for a conversation with President Clinton only. No official transcript would be recorded and other Members of Congress would be barred from participating. I have rejected the Clintons’ ridiculous offer,” Comer said on Tuesday.
“The Clintons’ latest demands make clear they believe their last name entitles them to special treatment. The House Oversight Committee’s bipartisan subpoenas require the Clintons to appear for depositions that are under oath and transcribed. Former President Clinton has a documented history of parsing language to evade questions, responded falsely under oath, and was impeached and suspended from the practice of law as a result,” Comer added.
“The absence of an official transcript is an indefensible demand that is insulting to the American people who demand answers about Epstein’s crimes. As part of our investigation, the House Oversight Committee has released transcripts of interviews with former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr and former U.S. Secretary of Labor Alex Acosta, which has provided much needed transparency to the public. Without a formal record, Americans would be left to rely on competing accounts of what was said,” Comer continued.
“Former Secretary Clinton’s on-the-record testimony is necessary for the Committee’s investigation given her knowledge from her time as Secretary of State of the federal government’s work to counter international sex-tracking rings, her personal knowledge of Ms. Maxwell, and her family’s relationship with Mr. Epstein,” he said.
The subpoenas stem from a bipartisan vote by the committee’s Federal Law Enforcement Subcommittee in July 2025 seeking testimony about Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell. Comer has said the Clintons’ testimony is critical given Bill Clinton’s past association with Epstein and Hillary Clinton’s role overseeing diplomatic efforts that could intersect with the investigation.
A spokesperson for the Clintons countered that interviews could be conducted on the record and under oath and disputed Comer’s characterization of their negotiations.
“We never said no to a transcript. Interviews are on the record and under oath. Whether it was written or typed isn’t why this is happening. If that were the last or only issue, we’d be in a different position. You keep misdirecting to protect you-know-who and God knows what,” the spokesperson, Angel Urena, said.
If the Oversight Committee approves the contempt resolutions, they would be sent to the full House, where a majority vote would be required before referral to the Justice Department. Contempt of Congress is among the strongest enforcement tools available to Congress when individuals defy subpoenas.
