House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., is calling for bipartisanship on a key vote that could lead to former President Bill Clinton and ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton facing criminal charges.
Comer will ask Democrats to join Republicans in teeing up House-wide votes on holding the Clintons in contempt of Congress on Wednesday, after both defied subpoenas to appear for his committee’s probe into Jeffrey Epstein.
‘The Committee does not take this action lightly. But subpoenas are not mere suggestions; they carry the force of law and require compliance,’ Comer will say, according to an excerpt obtained by Fox News Digital. ‘Former President Clinton and Secretary Clinton were legally required to appear for depositions before this Committee. They refused.’
Comer’s statement will also argue the committee ‘acted in good faith’ in trying to schedule the depositions but that ‘actions have consequences.’
‘We’ve offered flexibility on scheduling. The response we received was not cooperation, but defiance, marked by repeated delays, excuses, and obstruction,’ Comer will say. ‘Today, the Clintons must be held accountable for their actions. And Democrats must support these measures, or they will be exposed as hypocrites.’
The committee is meeting at 10 a.m. on Wednesday to mark up a pair of reports on holding the Clintons in contempt.
If they pass — which they are expected to do, largely along party lines — it will pave the way for the full House to vote on whether to refer the Clintons to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for prosecution.
‘We must do what is necessary to uphold Congress’s investigative authority, which is imperative to the legislative process,’ Comer will say. ‘And we are doing so to demonstrate to the American people that justice is applied equally to everyone, regardless of position, pedigree, or prestige.’
A contempt of Congress conviction is a misdemeanor that carries a maximum fine of $100,000 and up to one year in jail.
Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro, associates of President Donald Trump, were each found guilty of the charge after defying subpoenas sent by the now-defunct House select committee on the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
The Clintons were two of 10 people Comer subpoenaed over the summer as part of the Oversight Committee’s probe into Epstein. But despite the initial bipartisan push, the investigation has fallen into partisan infighting as both sides accuse the other of politicizing the probe at the expense of Epstein’s victims.
Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the committee, accused Comer of hypocrisy in trying to hold the Clintons accountable while not pushing harder to enforce the subpoena aimed at forcing the DOJ to release all of its Epstein files, which it has not yet done.
‘I think it’s incredibly hypocritical for James Comer to go out and try to hold in contempt his political enemies while [Attorney General Pam Bondi] is actively breaking the law, and he refuses to hold her in contempt,’ Garcia told MS NOW last week.
Comer also issued a statement on Tuesday stating that he rejected an offer from Bill Clinton’s lawyer for himself and Garcia to sit down with the former president in New York, for an interview without an ‘official transcript.’
‘The House Oversight Committee rejects the Clintons’ unreasonable demands and will move forward with contempt resolutions on Wednesday due to their continued defiance of lawful subpoenas,’ Comer said.