As Comer readies contempt charges against Clintons, they blast him as partisan

Austin Horn, Lexington Herald-Leader on Jan 13, 2026

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Rep. James Comer and former President Bill Clinton are locked in an intense war of words after Clinton defied a congressional subpoena and accused the Kentucky lawmaker of playing partisan politics in his House Oversight Committee investigation of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Because the Clintons did not appear for subpoenaed depositions on Tuesday as a part of the Epstein probe, Comer said the committee will initiate contempt of Congress proceedings against them. The Clintons say they have already provided all the information they have on Epstein.

Clinton, a well-known associate of Epstein’s, wrote in a joint statement with his wife, former Secretary of State and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, wrote that Comer’s investigation has been tainted by politics. He complained that seven of the other eight people subpoenaed have been dismissed from their depositions, but Comer is pursuing the Clintons because of President Donald Trump’s enmity toward them.

“There is no plausible explanation for what you are doing other than partisan politics. You accepted the least from those who know the most but demand the most from those who know the least,” the Clintons wrote. “To say you can’t complete your work without speaking to us is simply bizarre.”

The pair have provided sworn statements to Comer’s committee, they said.

Comer countered in a statement that Democrats are the ones playing politics, pointing out the subpoenas were voted on in a bipartisan fashion.

“This wasn’t something that I just issued as chairman of the Committee ... Not a single Democrat showed up today. Not a single Democrat — the ones who have press conferences on the Capitol steps and talk about how they’re trying to get justice for the victims and all that. It just seems like they only care about questioning Republicans,” Comer said.

Comer added that he intends to move next week to push forward contempt of Congress charges against the Clintons.

In their letter to Comer, the Clintons sounded alarm over the state of the U.S. government, which is controlled by Republicans in the White House and GOP majorities in both the U.S. Senate and House. They tried to frame themselves as being on the right side of history and Comer on the wrong side of it, claiming he’s failed in his efforts to investigate the Epstein situation.

Fellow Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie, a Republican routinely at odds with Trump, pushed successfully for the release of the Epstein files in the face of opposition from a majority of Republicans. The Clintons made reference to this push in their letter. They also shared Massie’s disappointment with Attorney General Pam Bondi’s heavy redaction of the materials that have been released.

“The fact that the public and we are seeing any of the Department of Justice’s Epstein files is only because four Republicans, out of 220, joined every Democrat to reach the minimum number of Members to force a vote,” the Clintons wrote. “You were not one of those four. Even now, despite the Department of Justice’s failure to follow the law the Congress passed, you have chosen not to consider subpoenaing the sitting Attorney General to follow the law.”

Like Clinton, Trump was also a friend of Epstein’s at one point in time, though he claims to have had a falling out with him in the early ‘00s.

A letter from the Clintons’ attorneys to Comer, obtained by POLITICO, claims that there is no valid legislative purpose for their in-person depositions and that they are meant to “harass and embarrass” the Clintons.

Speaking to reporters at the U.S. Capitol Tuesday, Comer said his mission was fact-finding in nature.

“Jeffrey Epstein visited the White House 17 times while Bill Clinton was president. No one’s accusing Bill Clinton of anything, any wrongdoing. We just have questions,” Comer said.

The Clintons ended their personal letter to Comer with a swipe at his investigation into former President Joe Biden’s use of an autopen to sign documents instead of devoting more resources to the Epstein investigation, which has drawn far more public interest.

“Continue to mislead Americans about what is truly at stake, and you will learn that Americans are better at finding the truth than you are at burying it,” the Clintons wrote. “Continue to pursue autopens instead of penning laws Americans need, and you will learn that you are signing away any remaining chance of being on the right side of history.

“Continue to abet the dismantling of America, and you will learn that it takes more than a wrecking ball to demolish what Americans have built over 250 years.”

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