Republicans moved Tuesday to hold former US president Bill Clinton in criminal contempt after he skipped a subpoenaed deposition in the congressional investigation into sex offender Jeffrey Epstein -- marking a sharp escalation in a politically charged inquiry.
The Republican-led House Oversight Committee said it would begin contempt proceedings next week after the 79-year-old Democrat did not show up for closed-door testimony scheduled for Tuesday morning.
The panel is also threatening similar action against former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who is due to testify Wednesday but is also expected to be a no-show.
The pressure comes as President Donald Trump faces mounting calls for transparency, with the Justice Department angering his supporters -- many of whom believe Epstein was murdered in a cover-up -- by releasing only a sliver of case files nearly a month past the legal deadline.
"As a result of Bill Clinton not showing up for his lawful subpoena -- which was voted unanimously by the committee in a bipartisan manner -- we will move next week... to hold former President Clinton in contempt of Congress," committee chairman James Comer told reporters.
In an eight-page letter to Comer, the Clintons said they did not plan to appear for the depositions, describing the moment as one requiring resistance "no matter the consequences."
Invoking contempt against a former president is rare and would represent a significant step by House Republicans.
Any contempt resolution would require approval by the full House before being referred to the Justice Department, which ultimately decides whether to prosecute.
Criminal contempt of Congress is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in prison and fines of up to $100,000, though referrals are unevenly enforced.
The Oversight Committee is investigating Epstein's ties to powerful figures and how information about his crimes was handled by US authorities.
Conspiracy Theories
Epstein, once a friend and associate of Trump and other high-profile figures, was convicted of sex crimes and later jailed pending trial for allegedly trafficking underage girls.
The financier died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial, a death officially ruled a suicide but long the subject of conspiracy theories amplified by Trump's supporters.
The Clintons were subpoenaed in August alongside other current and former officials, including former FBI director James Comey.
Their depositions were initially scheduled for October, then delayed twice -- once after Clinton said he needed to attend a funeral.
Clinton's spokesman Angel Urena has accused Comer of singling out the former president, saying his legal team offered the same terms accepted for other witnesses.
Hillary Clinton's office has questioned why she was subpoenaed at all, saying the committee had failed to explain the relevance of her testimony.
The dispute comes amid controversy over the Trump administration's handling of Epstein-related records.
Weeks after a legal deadline to release the Epstein files, the Justice Department has offered up only one percent of the total archive, angering Trump supporters who had expected sweeping disclosures.
Those documents included multiple photographs of Bill Clinton from the early 2000s.
The former president has acknowledged traveling on Epstein's private plane during Clinton Foundation trips before the financier was charged with any sex crimes, but denies wrongdoing and says he cut ties years before Epstein's 2006 arrest.
No evidence has emerged implicating either Bill or Hillary Clinton in criminal conduct related to Epstein.
Contempt of Congress has taken on greater weight in recent years. Two Trump allies were jailed for defying subpoenas during the investigation into the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol - underscoring that defiance can carry real legal consequences.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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