Former President Bill Clinton defied a House Republican committee’s subpoena Tuesday in an escalating battle over Congress’s handling of an investigation of disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer threatened the former president with a contempt prosecution, while Clinton accused the Republican of mounting a partisan campaign to hide, rather than reveal, the truth about Epstein and his powerful connections.
Clinton failed to appear at a deposition for Comer’s panel Tuesday. Instead, the former president posted a letter to the chairman on social media denouncing his investigation and condemning him for resisting successful legislation to force disclosure of Justice Department files on Epstein’s sex trafficking operation.
“If the government didn’t do all it could to investigate and prosecute these crimes, for whatever reason, that should be the focus of your work – to learn why and to prevent that from happening ever again. There is no evidence that you are doing so,” Clinton wrote in a letter co-signed by his wife, former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, who has also been subpoenaed by the panel.
Comer said his panel will move next week to hold Clinton in contempt of Congress. He added that no one is accusing Clinton of wrongdoing but said the former president’s refusal to testify is “very disappointing.”
Hillary Clinton, the former US senator and secretary of state who lost to President Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election, is scheduled to appear on Capitol Hill on Wednesday but also isn’t expected to attend.
The process of holding an individual in contempt of Congress usually requires a vote by the full House to direct the matter to the Justice Department. Two former Trump aides, Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon, served jail time after being held in contempt.
House Republican leaders resisted a Democratic-backed law to force the Justice Department to release files on Epstein. But four Republicans joined Democrats in an unusual procedural maneuver to force a House vote on the measure, which was passed into law last year.
The Justice Department, to comply with the law, has been releasing tranches of files connected with Epstein. Epstein, a convicted sex offender, was facing federal charges of trafficking underage girls when he died in jail in 2019.
Among the released documents were several photos featuring the former president, who has repeatedly denied knowledge of Epstein’s crimes. His spokesman called at the time for the Justice Department to release all the materials it has that refer to or mention Clinton.
“Refusal to do so will confirm the widespread suspicion the Department of Justice’s actions to date are not about transparency, but about insinuation,” Angel Urena said in a post on X on December 22.
Trump, who signed the Epstein legislation under pressure from congressional Republicans, has complained about the continued focus on the Epstein files.
Like Clinton, Trump is seen in photos in the files and has repeatedly denied any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes. Mentions in the files don’t mean someone did something wrong.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said there was no need for Trump to testify because he’s answered questions about Epstein “ad nauseam.”
The Clintons complained in their letter that the committee had waived depositions for others it had subpoenaed.
“You subpoenaed eight people in addition to us. You dismissed seven of those eight without any of them saying a single word to you. You made no attempt to force them to appear. In fact, since you started your investigation last year, you have interviewed a total of two people.”
Last year the committee withdrew subpoenas for several former government officials, including former FBI director James Comey, former Attorneys General Jeff Sessions, Alberto Gonzales, Loretta Lynch and Eric Holder after they provided written declarations to the committee that they had no information relevant to its inquiries. A subpoena to former FBI director Robert Mueller was withdrawn due to his health issues.
The committee pursued contempt charges against former Attorney General Merrick Garland, leading to a House vote for contempt that ended in a stalemate when the Justice Department refused to prosecute Garland.
Former Attorney General William Barr testified in a closed-door deposition in August 2025. In a statement, the committee said he testified that he “had limited knowledge of the investigation” into Epstein, and that he “could not exonerate President Trump of wrongdoing.”
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