Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have declined to appear before the House Oversight Committee as part of its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, setting up a confrontation with the Republican-led panel that is now moving toward contempt of Congress proceedings.

The Clintons were subpoenaed in August 2025 to give closed-door depositions this week — Bill Clinton on Tuesday and Hillary Clinton on Wednesday. Instead, the couple released a joint, four-page public letter addressed to Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, calling the subpoenas “invalid and legally unenforceable” and accusing the committee of pursuing a politically motivated process.

Comer confirmed Tuesday morning that Bill Clinton did not appear for his scheduled deposition and said the committee would proceed with contempt action. “I think everyone knows by now, Bill Clinton did not show up,” Comer said, stressing that the subpoenas were approved unanimously in a bipartisan committee vote. He later added, “We will move next week in the House Oversight Committee markup to hold former President Clinton in contempt of Congress.” Comer said the panel would leave open the possibility that Hillary Clinton could still comply, though her attorney, David Kendall, has not indicated whether she plans to appear.

The letter from the Clintons states that “despite everything that needs to be done to help our country, you are on the cusp of bringing Congress to a halt to pursue a rarely used process literally designed to result in our imprisonment. This is not the way out of America’s ills, and we will forcefully defend ourselves.”  The Clintons argued they have already provided all relevant information in writing and accuse Comer of undermining the investigation’s stated purpose. “We have tried to give you the little information that we have,” they wrote. “We’ve done so because Mr. Epstein’s crimes were horrific. 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.”  They also contend the chairman has “done nothing” to compel the Justice Department to meet its disclosure requirements under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, passed late last year, while instead focusing on compelling testimony from individuals with limited knowledge.

Republicans on the House Oversight Committee say they want to question Bill Clinton about his past association with Epstein, including travel on Epstein’s private plane in the early 2000s and Epstein’s visits to the White House during Clinton’s presidency. Comer has acknowledged that neither Bill nor Hillary Clinton has been accused of wrongdoing, but has warned that failure to comply could result in criminal contempt referrals to the Department of Justice. If approved by the full House, such a referral would leave it to federal prosecutors to decide whether to pursue charges, which can carry penalties of up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine.

The Clintons’ attorneys note that Hillary Clinton “has no personal knowledge of Epstein or Maxwell’s criminal activities, never flew on his aircraft, never visited his island, and cannot recall ever speaking to Epstein,” and that Bill Clinton ended contact with Epstein more than two decades ago and has expressed regret over even that limited association. Comer has rejected those arguments, saying it is up to the committee — not witnesses — to assess the value of testimony. “[T]he Committee believes that it should be provided in a deposition setting, where the Committee can best assess its breadth and value,” he said.

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