The House’s lead investigator said he will hold former President Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary, in contempt of Congress if they don’t testify in person over their dealings with deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer said the Clintons, through their lawyer, have acknowledged they have some information to share. Mr. Comer rejected their offer to do it in written statements, saying it’s up to the committee to decide how it hears from witnesses.
Mr. Comer, Kentucky Republican, issued a subpoena for the former president and former secretary of state over the summer, and the two sides have been communicating over the demand for testimony.
The chairman said Friday that “further delays are unacceptable.”
“Given their history with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, any attempt by the Clintons to avoid sitting for a deposition would be in defiance of lawful subpoenas and grounds to initiate contempt of Congress proceedings,” he said.
David Kendall, the Clintons’ lawyer, told Mr. Comer in a letter earlier this month that what’s come to light about Epstein and Maxwell is “abhorrent” but the former president and former secretary of state “have little to contribute” on the subject.
Mr. Kendall said they could tell what they know “on paper.”
Mr. Comer said that “little” wasn’t nothing, and so the two must appear in person.
He dismissed Mr. Kendall’s suggestion that the Clintons’ dealings with Epstein were outside of their official duties.
“It is precisely the fact President Clinton and Secretary Clinton each maintained relationships with Mr. Epstein and Ms. Maxwell in their personal capacities as private citizens that is of interest to the committee,” Mr. Comer said in his letter to the lawyer.
The Washington Times has sought comment from Mr. Kendall.
Mr. Comer’s focus on the Clintons comes just after Congress passed legislation pushing for release of documents in the Justice Department’s possession relating to Epstein. President Trump signed the measure.
Mr. Clinton is listed on flight logs as having taken trips on Epstein’s private jet in the years after he left the White House in 2001.
There has been no public credible accusation by any Epstein victims that the former president knew of or was involved in the sex-trafficking activities that Maxwell has been convicted of and that Epstein stood accused of at the time he took his life in 2019.
In new emails released this month, Epstein wrote in 2015 that Mr. Clinton was never on his island.
Virginia Giuffre, whose 2009 lawsuit against Epstein became the vehicle for major revelations, said she was present at dinners between Mr. Clinton and Epstein. She died in April.
