Hillary Clinton defied a subpoena for a closed-door deposition on Jeffrey Epstein, prompting a Republican-led contempt of Congress vote
WASHINGTON: Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton defied a subpoena to appear before a congressional probe into Jeffrey Epstein on Wednesday.
This prompted Republican lawmakers to move toward holding her in contempt of Congress.
Clinton was scheduled for a closed-door deposition, but her lawyers told the House Oversight Committee the subpoena was “invalid and legally unenforceable.”
They argued she had already shared her limited knowledge about Epstein and accused the committee of forcing an unnecessary legal showdown.
Republican chairman James Comer said the committee would meet to advance a contempt resolution against Bill Clinton after he skipped his own deposition on Tuesday.
“We’re going to hold both Clintons in criminal contempt of Congress,” Comer said.
The Clintons are among 10 people subpoenaed as part of the panel’s investigation into Epstein, who died in a prison suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking.
The Clintons’ attorneys criticised Comer’s leadership, calling his targeting of the couple “a protracted and unnecessary legal confrontation.”
Any contempt resolution advanced by the committee would need approval from the entire House of Representatives.
A criminal contempt of Congress is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a maximum $100,000 fine.
Hillary Clinton has not been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.
Her name does not appear in the thousands of Epstein-related documents released so far under the Justice Department’s transparency act.
Bill Clinton, also not accused of wrongdoing, has said he severed ties with Epstein before the financier was charged with sex crimes in 2006.
