BY EMMANUEL OGBONNA
Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday they will refuse to comply with a congressional subpoena demanding their testimony in a House Oversight Committee investigation into disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, escalating a confrontation that could push Congress toward rarely used contempt proceedings.
In a sharply worded letter released publicly, the Clintons dismissed the subpoena as “legally invalid” and accused Republican lawmakers of abusing congressional authority for political purposes. The letter was issued as House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer signaled plans to move forward with contempt of Congress proceedings after Bill Clinton failed to appear for a scheduled deposition at House offices earlier in the day.
The Clintons warned that the committee’s actions were steering toward a process “literally designed to result in our imprisonment,” and vowed to fight back. “We will forcefully defend ourselves,” they wrote, arguing that the investigation has been conducted in a selective and unfair manner.
They accused Comer of allowing other former officials to submit written statements regarding Epstein while singling them out for compulsory testimony. According to the letter, the Clintons have already provided all relevant information in their possession and see no lawful basis for further demands.
Comer responded by confirming that the committee will initiate contempt proceedings next week, a step that could trigger a complex and politically charged process. If approved by the House, a contempt referral would typically be sent to the Justice Department, though prosecutions stemming from congressional contempt citations are rare and often mired in legal and constitutional disputes.
“No one’s accusing the Clintons of any wrongdoing,” Comer told reporters after Bill Clinton did not appear for the deposition. “We just have questions.” He added that Clinton’s past association with Epstein merited scrutiny, saying, “Anyone would admit they spent a lot of time together.”
Bill Clinton has never been accused of criminal conduct related to Epstein, but his long-standing acquaintance with the wealthy financier during the 1990s and early 2000s has drawn renewed attention as lawmakers revisit the broader network of powerful figures connected to Epstein. Republicans have increasingly focused on that relationship amid growing pressure from the public and advocacy groups for a fuller accounting of Epstein’s activities and the people who may have enabled him.
Epstein was arrested in 2019 on federal charges of sex trafficking and conspiracy involving underage girls. He died by suicide in a New York jail while awaiting trial, fueling years of speculation, mistrust and calls for transparency about his connections and the handling of his case.
In their letter, the Clintons said they had cooperated to the extent possible out of respect for the victims. “We have tried to give you the little information we have,” they wrote. “We’ve done so because Mr. Epstein’s crimes were horrific.”
The standoff also revives longstanding constitutional questions about whether Congress can compel testimony from former presidents. While several ex-presidents have voluntarily appeared before congressional committees, none has ever been forced to testify under subpoena.
That precedent was cited in 2022 by President Donald Trump’s legal team when he faced a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Trump’s lawyers argued that decades of legal practice shielded former presidents from compulsory congressional testimony, and the committee ultimately withdrew its subpoena.
Comer suggested that similar limits apply in the current investigation, saying the Oversight Committee would not attempt to compel testimony from Trump regarding Epstein because it cannot force a sitting president to appear before Congress.
Trump, like Clinton, also had a documented social relationship with Epstein in the past. Trump has said he ended contact with Epstein before the financier was publicly accused of sexual misconduct, a claim that has been scrutinized but not legally challenged.
The refusal by the Clintons sets the stage for a potentially drawn-out legal and political battle, one that could test the boundaries of congressional oversight powers while once again thrusting the Epstein case—and its far-reaching implications—into the national spotlight.
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