House Republican Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY) rejected requests from former President Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Clinton on Monday. The two Democrats face contempt of Congress votes over their refusal to appear for depositions over an investigation into convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The House is set to vote as early as Wednesday to hold the Clintons in contempt of Congress after the former president and first lady did not show up for their scheduled depositions in January. The Clintons’ lawyers, however, are still hoping to work out a deal with Comer and sent the Republican a letter Saturday saying the former president would be willing to sit for a four-hour transcribed interview instead of a deposition under oath. The lawyers also said Hillary Clinton would submit a sworn declaration rather than appear in person for a deposition.
Comer called the offers “unreasonable,” adding, “It has been nearly six months since your clients first received the Committee’s subpoena, more than three months since the original date of their depositions, and nearly three weeks since they failed to appear for their depositions commensurate with the Committee’s lawful subpoenas.”
“Your clients’ desire for special treatment is both frustrating and an affront to the American people’s desire for transparency,” Comer wrote in a reply to the Clintons’ attorneys.
Comer said that the Clintons’ requests for the transcribed interview would mean that Bill Clinton could “refuse to answer whatever questions he wanted for whatever reasons he wanted.” The House Oversight chairman added that the four-hour time limit requested would give Bill Clinton an “incentive to attempt to run out the clock by giving unnecessarily long answers and meandering off-topic.”
“This is a particular concern where a witness, such as President Clinton, has an established record of being a loquacious individual,” Comer added.
Regarding the request for Hillary Clinton, Comer told the attorneys that the Oversight Committee “has made clear on numerous occasions the necessity of her in-person testimony and unacceptability of simple sworn declarations.”
A majority of the House must vote in favor of a contempt resolution for it to pass. If found in contempt of Congress, the Clintons face large fines and potentially jail time.
Bill and Hillary Clinton were subpoenaed to appear before the House Oversight Committee last year as the committee conducted its investigation into Epstein. The Clintons’ deposition dates were initially scheduled for October and then moved to December, and finally moved to January, but the former president and his wife were no-shows.
After the Clintons skipped their depositions, nine Democrats joined with all Republicans on the House Oversight Committee to hold Bill Clinton in contempt, and three Democrats voted with Republicans to hold Hillary Clinton in contempt.
The Clintons were friends of Epstein’s in the early 2000s, with Bill Clinton often flying with Epstein on the sex predator’s infamous private plane. Neither the former president nor the first lady has been accused of any wrongdoing related to Epstein’s crimes. After receiving their subpoenas, the Clintons argued that they “already provided the limited information they possess about Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell to the Committee.”
Bill Clinton has appeared multiple times in the Epstein files, as the Justice Department continues to release batches of documents and photos to the public. Some of the images released by the Justice Department from Epstein’s estate show Bill Clinton enjoying a hot tub with a woman whose face was redacted and swimming in a pool with Epstein’s associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for her role in the sex trafficking scheme. Bill Clinton was also pictured getting a shoulder massage from one of Epstein’s accusers, Chauntae Davies. Davies has not accused the former president of any wrongdoing.
Bill Clinton’s chief of staff, Angel Ureña, said in December that the former president “knew nothing and cut Epstein off before his crimes came to light.”
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