Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the The Daily Wire. The author of this post is Cameron Arcand.
The House Oversight Committee voted to recommend holding Bill and Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress for not complying with subpoenas related to the Jeffrey Epstein probe.
The committee's recommendation now goes to the full House for a vote, where the Republican majority seems inclined to vote yes. It is then up to the Trump Justice Department to decide if it will pursue a grand jury indictment against the Clintons, according to CBS News. The committee subpoenaed both Clintons after several photos of the former president surfaced in the Epstein files already released.
In a January 13 letter to Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, the Clintons said they have reason to believe the subpoenas are
"legally invalid" and that they
"tried to give [Comer] the little information [they] have."
"We've done so because Mr. Epstein's crimes were horrific," the statement read, adding that
"There is no plausible explanation for what you are doing other than partisan politics."
Congress passed the
"Epstein Files Transparency Act" in November by nearly unanimous margins in both chambers, and it was then signed into law by President Donald Trump. Democrats have argued that the pace of the files' release has been too slow.
In a lengthy markup hearing on Wednesday, there was a debate about the specifics of
"acceptable terms," as Comer phrased it, including whether or not there should be a recorded transcript of the Clintons' depositions.
"They have had five months to comply with this," Comer said, noting the negotiations with the Clintons' attorneys.
"We expect to hear from Bill Clinton, he is not above the law," he later said.
Prior to the hearing, Comer wrote on social media that
"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."
"The Clintons' latest demands make clear they believe their last name entitles them to special treatment," the Kentucky congressman added.
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA), ranking member of the committee, argued that the
"Clintons have not objected to a transcript."
"Let's talk to President Clinton, and let's get a transcript of it, let's have the committee there and the staff there and move forward," the California Democrat added.
"They did object to a transcript Mr. Garcia, they did object to a transcript, they're just now changing because they see that public opinion is not on their side," Comer responded.
Democrats on the committee said that the decision to hold the possibility of holding the Clintons in contempt is political targeting, arguing that the same standard was not honored for other subpoenas issued.
"Attorney General Pam Bondi has violated the subpoena issued by this committee; we should be holding her in contempt to remain fair and to remain transparent, and so I ask that you do that if you want to be fair and care about justice for the victims here," Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ) said during the hearing.
Comer responded, saying that
"They have turned documents over," and noted multiple times in the hearing that Bondi is expected to testify before the House Judiciary Committee next month, where she could be asked about the Epstein files process.
Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) proposed an amendment to hold Bondi in civil contempt, saying she's not against the effort to hold the Clintons
"accountable" but argued that the contempt effort was being
"fast-tracked." Rep. Dave Min (D-CA) suggested civil enforcement of the subpoena instead, which Comer pushed back on, citing insight from legal counsel.
"If this committee wants to be taken seriously, we would be addressing all the bad actors in this investigation, not cherry-picking them for political points. The Justice Department needs to be held accountable for their non-compliance and their lack of transparency," Lee said.
The amendments proposed by the Democrats ultimately failed to pass. Nine Democrats voted with Republicans to hold Bill Clinton in contempt. Three voted to hold Hillary Clinton in contempt.
The Clintons did not respond to a request for comment.
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