Chairman James R. Comer said Tuesday the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee would take up a contempt of Congress measure against Bill Clinton next week, after the former president did not show up for a deposition tied to the panel’s investigation of deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Committee approval of a contempt of Congress measure would be the first step on a path that could lead to legal troubles for the Democratic former president, a figure vilified by conservatives and President Donald Trump. Republican lawmakers gathered Tuesday morning in the Rayburn House Office Building as a scrum of TV cameras and reporters lined the hallway. After it became clear Clinton would not be attending, Comer announced he would move forward next week with a markup to pursue contempt of Congress. “We've communicated with President Clinton's legal team for months now, giving them opportunity after opportunity to come in — to give us a date — and they continue to delay, delay, delay, to the point where we had no idea whether [they were] going to show up today or not,” Comer said. “I think it's very disappointing.” The Kentucky Republican said former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton “is supposed to show up tomorrow. We’ll see what happens there.” She is not expected to appear. Comer did not say what the aim of the contempt of Congress push might be. A criminal contempt of Congress could lead the Trump administration to decide whether to prosecute Clinton on a charge that brings the possibility of up to a year in prison and a fine. A House subcommittee panel voted to subpoena the Clintons last summer as part of the panel’s probe into Epstein and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a federal prison sentence. Bill Clinton had appeared in photos with Epstein. The committee said the Clintons declined deposition dates in mid-December, citing the need to attend a funeral, and then declined to propose a date for January. Attorneys for Bill and Hillary Clinton told Comer in a letter this week that the subpoenas are invalid and legally unenforceable. The lawyers added the Clintons proactively provided the limited information they had on Epstein and Maxwell and argued the subpoenas are unwarranted because they “do not seek pertinent information.” “It is clear the Subpoenas themselves — and any subsequent attempt to enforce them — are nothing more than a ploy to attempt to embarrass political rivals, as President Trump has directed,” the letter states. Comer on Tuesday hammered home that Democrats also voted to subpoena the Clintons. “So the Democrats were real eager to hear about Bill Clinton, and then somebody came along and told them they need to stand down,” Comer said. Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight panel, said on Friday that Democrats have had a hard time getting Republican support for certain subpoenas. Garcia said Democrats are interested in talking with onetime Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon, who has appeared in pictures with Epstein.“ We don't think there's support there to get that subpoena,” Garcia said. A spokesperson for House Oversight Democrats said in a statement that their members “have always said that the Committee is willing to talk to any person who has information about Jeffrey Epstein.” “Cooperating with Congress is important and the Committee should continue working with President Clinton's team to obtain any information that might be relevant to our investigation,” the spokesperson said. Convictions for contempt of Congress are rare, but two cases and convictions emerged from refusals to comply with subpoenas from the House select committee to investigate the Jan. 6, 2001, attack on the Capitol. Bannon was convicted on two charges of contempt of Congress in 2022 after a brief jury trial. He has appealed his case to the Supreme Court, which has not announced whether it will decide his case. Trump administration trade adviser Peter Navarro was convicted on two counts of contempt of Congress in 2023. A federal appeals court in Washington heard arguments on his appeal last month.
