It’s a rare day where you have to hand it to The Squad™, but Wednesday was that day.
That’s when two of the three most intransigent members of the Democratic progressive crazy coven — Reps. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan — joined with nine Democrats who voted with the Republicans on the House Oversight Committee to hold former President Bill Clinton in contempt of Congress for refusing to answer a subpoena regarding his relationship with one Jeffrey Epstein.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was also held in contempt by the Oversight Committee, but that vote was by a smaller margin. However, as Just the News reported, Tlaib also voted with the Republicans on that one.
Both members of the former first couple were called before the committee as part of their investigation into the squalid life and subsequent death of Epstein, whose ties to the former president in particular are of significant interest. They were scheduled to appear earlier this month, but apparently had something else on the calendar (it must be busy not being president), and blew off the legally binding engagement.
“The committee does not take this action lightly. Subpoenas are not mere suggestions,” said Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, according to Fox News.
“[Subpoenas] carry the force of law and require compliance. Former President Clinton and Secretary Clinton were legally required to appear for depositions before this committee.”
The Clintons’ offer to the committee — to meet in private in New York with no transcript — was, according to Comer, “insulting.”
“The Clintons’ latest demands make clear they believe their last name entitles them to special treatment,” Comer said in a statement. “The House Oversight Committee rejects the Clintons’ unreasonable demands and will move forward with contempt resolutions.”
The committee’s vote was 34-9 to advance a contempt recommendation against Bill, 28-15 to advance one against Hillary. Two Democrats voted present in the first vote, one in the second.
Of the nine Democrats who joined all 25 Republicans to advance the contempt motion against Bill:
- California Rep. Lateefah Simon
- Florida Rep. Maxwell Frost
- Illinois Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi
- Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley
- Massachusetts Rep. Stephen Lynch
- Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib
- New Mexico Rep. Melanie Stansbury
- Pennsylvania Rep. Summer Lee
- Washington Rep. Emily Randall
It’s worth noting that, while not one of the founding four of The Squad™, Rep. Lee is considered an annex to the group, having been elected in 2022. Think of her as, say, the Cousin Oliver of The Squad™: She wasn’t there for most of the stuff you remember about the pack of radical harridans, but she is technically there.
In addition, Reps. Lee, Stansbury and Tlaib also voted to advance the contempt motion against Hillary.
California Rep. David Min and Washington Rep. Yassamin Ansari voted present on Bill Clinton’s contempt motion, with Min also voting present on Hillary’s.
Now, the questions do raise themselves: What are these Democrats (especially the squadsters) hoping to get out of this, if anything, and what would Bill and Hillary’s testimony have proved?
Answering backwards: First, there would probably be little proved, although it would be very curious to know how much due diligence was done before Bill Clinton — then a former president with a Secret Service and other intelligence officials to find stuff out for him — agreed to fly on Epstein’s private jet (the infamous “Lolita Express”) to Asia and Africa for philanthropic trips.
Even if the hearings were in public, or in private in New York, I doubt much of interest would be discovered, though. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it until I’m blue in the face (or fingers, considering the medium): Epstein was a wealthy, powerful man, who convinced the ultra-wealthy and ultra-powerful that he was one of them when he wasn’t via displays of opulence.
He lived a parallel life of sordid, illicit, depraved excess, which — in only a few cases (hi, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor!) — intersected with his wooing of the ultra-rich, ultra-powerful people that gave him an aura of invincibility.
But, of course, we know why it helps Democrats in general and The Squad™ in particular to vote for these resolutions: It legitimizes a similar subpoena against President Donald Trump, which would end up yielding even less than the Clintons testifying would in terms of unraveling an Epstein mystery that isn’t there.
As an added bonus, they get to bury the ghost of Democrats past, the Clinton family. Three birds, one stone.
But a correct vote is a correct vote, and contempt of Congress is serious — up to a $100,000 fine and a year behind bars if they’re convicted, which the Department of Justice would pursue.
Nine Democrats took a correct stand. The Squad™ getting in on it was the icing on the cake, but it’s good to see common sense prevail among some House Oversight Committee members. For once.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
