WASHINGTON – Bill and Hillary Clinton refused to sit down this week for depositions concerning the former president’s previous friendship with the late financier and intercourse predator Jeffrey Epstein, casting their defiance as a battle in opposition to the “dismantling of America” by President Donald Trump.
But the subpoena demanding the Clintons come to Capitol Hill didn’t simply come from Trump’s allies. A unanimous, bipartisan vote within the House Oversight Committee accredited it, and Democrats on the committee don’t appear significantly keen to leap to the protection of the couple that after outlined their occasion ― at the least not publicly.
“We want all of the people who we’ve subpoenaed to come in,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), one of many Democrats most concerned in pushing for transparency on the Epstein matter, informed HuffPost on Wednesday.
Khanna and the opposite Democrats on the committee have been on the trail to throwing the Clintons beneath the bus since this summer season, when the occasion went all-in on damaging Trump by taking part in up his long-time friendship with Epstein, for the reason that GOP response linking Epstein to Clinton was predictable.
Democrats refused to take part within the Republican effort to dramatize the Clintons’ subpoena defiance. On Tuesday and Wednesday, though they knew the Clintons weren’t coming, Republicans packed into the deposition room, then got here out and complained concerning the former president and first girl not exhibiting up.
House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) additionally complained that no Democrats joined him in pretending to attend for the Clintons.
“The Democrats were real eager to hear about Bill Clinton, and then somebody came along and told them they need to stand down,” Comer mentioned Tuesday, seemingly speculating about Democratic messaging ways. “I’ve never seen a Democrat not show up for a deposition.”
Though Democrats didn’t maintain a press convention or put out a launch concerning the depositions this week, they did submit a press release to the formal report throughout Wednesday’s proceedings, complaining that Comer has “relentlessly pursued” Hillary Clinton whereas making little effort to implement its subpoena for the Justice Department’s recordsdata on Epstein, which the Justice Department has not absolutely obeyed.
“Adding to these concerns,” the Democrats’ assertion continued, “is President Trump’s direction to his Attorney General, the Department of Justice, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation — via a Truth Social post — to initiate a criminal investigation into prominent Democrats, including President Clinton, to distract from his own close relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.”
The assertion — which was circulated Wednesday by Clinton aides, not congressional Democrats — additionally famous that each Bill and Hillary Clinton submitted declarations for the report. In his submission, the previous president mentioned he had no information of Epstein’s felony actions however acknowledged spending time with him after his presidency, which led to 2001, about 5 years earlier than police started trying into Epstein’s recruitment of women for sexual massages.
During his work for the Clinton Foundation, Clinton mentioned, he accepted gives to make use of Epstein’s personal aircraft.
“In the early 2000s, Mr. Epstein offered a plane that was large enough to accommodate me, my staff, and my U.S. Secret Service detail, in support of visiting the Foundation’s philanthropic work,” Clinton mentioned within the assertion. He mentioned he by no means visited Epstein’s infamous personal island.
Hillary Clinton, for her half, mentioned she’d by no means flown on Epstein’s aircraft.
Blowing off a congressional subpoena can have critical penalties, together with jail time, if the Justice Department decides to prosecute. Comer’s committee intends to approve contempt resolutions in opposition to the Clintons subsequent week, a prelude to a full House vote that might lead to a felony referral to the division.
It’s potential the Clintons might argue that as a result of they supplied some info, they didn’t really blow off the subpoena. But Republicans don’t suppose it’s an excellent argument.
“The Clintons were subpoenaed for depositions, not written statements,” a Comer spokesperson mentioned. “The House Oversight Committee offered flexibility in scheduling those depositions, but the Clintons instead delayed and obstructed the process.”
Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), a former chair of the House Judiciary Committee, mentioned Democrats didn’t actually need to go to bat for the Clintons.
“I don’t think they need much defending. I mean, the subpoena is so absurd, and the bias and purpose of the majority in the committee to rewrite history is so obvious,” Nadler informed HuffPost.
Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), a senior member of the oversight committee, mentioned Republicans have been merely utilizing the Clintons to distract from Trump’s relationship with Epstein.
“But you know, there are a couple of photos, and he was on the plane with his security detail. So I think the evidence is thin, but if there might be some way he could help the investigation, then we would hope he would do so voluntarily,” Lynch mentioned.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bill-clinton-epstein-subpoena-contempt-congress_n_69681486e4b00edae2a35c1c