Bill and Hillary Clinton refused on Tuesday to testify in the House’s Jeffrey Epstein investigation, escalating a monthslong battle with Representative James R. Comer, Republican of Kentucky, and effectively daring him to follow through on his threats to hold them in contempt of Congress.
“Every person has to decide when they have seen or had enough and are ready to fight for this country, its principles and its people, no matter the consequences,” the Clintons wrote in a lengthy letter to Comer, which was obtained by The New York Times. “For us, now is that time.”
Comer’s relentless efforts to force them to testify reflect his overall approach to his panel’s Epstein inquiry. As the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Comer has sought to shift the focus from President Donald Trump’s ties to the convicted sex offender and his administration’s decision to close its investigation into the matter without releasing key information. Instead, he has sought to shift the spotlight onto prominent Democrats who once associated with Epstein and his longtime companion Ghislaine Maxwell.
Comer has repeatedly threatened to hold the Clintons in contempt if they failed to appear for live depositions behind closed doors, typically a first step in referring someone to the justice department for prosecution. He had set a deadline of Tuesday for the former US President to appear, and Wednesday for Hillary.
But hours before the deadline, the Clintons made clear that they had no intention of presenting themselves on Capitol Hill to be questioned by Comer and members of his committee. They did so by submitting an eight-page legal letter laying out why they considered the subpoenas “invalid and legally unenforceable”, then followed up with a scorching missive that they signed jointly, promising to fight Comer on the issue for as long as it took.
In the letter, the Clintons noted that they had proactively provided Comer with sworn statements similar to ones he had accepted from seven or eight other former law enforcement officials he had also subpoenaed and then excused from testifying before the committee. The Clintons have repeatedly said they have no knowledge relevant to the investigation.
New York Times News Service