Republicans Threaten Bill Clinton With Contempt, Prison For Defying Epstein Subpoena | EUROtoday

WASHINGTON – The House Oversight Committee will begin contempt of Congress proceedings towards former President Bill Clinton, committee chair James Comer (R-Ky.) stated Tuesday.

The committee voted final 12 months to subpoena Bill and Hillary Clinton to ask them questions on their relationship with disgraced financier and intercourse predator Jeffrey Epstein. The vote got here shortly after the committee moved in bipartisan style to subpoena the Justice Department for its recordsdata on Epstein.

Standing subsequent to a picture of Bill Clinton reclining in a blue gown, Comer stated the committee simply needed to speak to the previous president.

“No one’s accusing Bill Clinton of any wrongdoing,” Comer stated. “We just have questions, and that’s why the Democrats voted along with Republicans to subpoena Bill Clinton.”

The committee will vote on holding Bill Clinton in contempt subsequent week, Comer stated. If the total House subsequently accredited the decision, it could lead to a referral to the Justice Department for prosecution. If convicted, he may very well be sentenced to jail. Hillary Clinton’s deposition is scheduled for Wednesday; presumably, the committee additionally would maintain her in contempt if she didn’t present.

In a lengthy letter to Comer on Tuesday morning, the Clintons claimed their subpoenas have been “legally invalid” and complained different subpoena targets, together with a number of former attorneys common, have been excused from having to point out up for depositions.

“Despite everything that needs to be done to help our country, you are on the cusp of bringing Congress to a halt to pursue a rarely used process literally designed to result in our imprisonment,” the Clintons wrote. “This is not the way out of America’s ills, and we will forcefully defend ourselves.”

They went on to say they anticipated Comer to carry them in contempt. “You may even release irrelevant, decades-old photos that you hope will embarrass us,” the Clintons wrote, including they hoped different Republicans would stop the House from passing a contempt decision.

The jail risk is actual. Two former officers of the primary Trump administration, Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro, served jail time for defying congressional subpoenas issued by Democrats throughout the Biden administration.

Like President Donald Trump, Bill Clinton steadily socialized with Epstein; neither has been implicated in his crimes. Epstein died by suicided in 2019 whereas awaiting trial on federal prices of intercourse trafficking minors.

Asked about hauling in Trump for a deposition, Comer stated it wasn’t doable to subpoena a sitting president, and there was no want to take action, anyway. “He answers questions every day,” Comer stated.

For years, Trump’s allies in right-wing media claimed the federal government had info that will implicate Epstein’s supposed purchasers, however the Trump Justice Department stated final summer time there was no “client list” and no info the division may use to convey new prices. The announcement prompted a backlash that resulted within the Oversight Committee approving the subpoenas to the Clintons, the Justice Department and Epstein’s property.

Photos of Clinton socializing with Epstein featured prominently within the first batch of Epstein recordsdata the Justice Department launched final month in response to a legislation requiring the fabric to be made public. Contrary to the legislation’s necessities, the division has solely made a fraction of its Epstein paperwork public. Other materials launched by the committee included pictures of Trump and emails from Epstein mentioning Trump.

Comer complained the Democrats didn’t come to the deposition room in a present of bipartisan solidarity.

“The Democrats on the committee voted with the Republicans for Bill Clinton to come in,” Comer stated. “I don’t ever remember a bipartisan vote to subpoena anyone.”

A spokesperson for committee Democrats stated they have been prepared to speak to anybody with related info.

“We support former President Bill Clinton’s calls on President Trump to direct Attorney General Bondi to immediately release the full Epstein files, including any material including the former president,” Democratic committee spokesperson Sara Guerrero stated. “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.”

As for the picture of Clinton in a blue gown — a photograph of a 2012 portray by Australian artist Petrina Ryan‑Kleid — Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), who was holding the poster, stated she needed Clinton to elucidate it.

“We’re told that this was in one of Jeffrey Epstein’s properties, and I just wanted to ask what the inspiration of this photo was,” Boebert informed HuffPost.