Bill and Hillary Clinton send defiant message to Epstein investigators despite major threat from lawmakers

Former US president Bill Clinton and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton say they will refuse to comply with a congressional subpoena for them to give evidence in an investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.

The Clintons claimed a Republican-controlled committee’s attempts were 'legally invalid' as Republican legislators prepare contempt of Congress proceedings against them.

In a letter released on social media on Tuesday (January 13), the Clintons told the chairman of the House oversight committee, Republican representative James Comer, that he is on the cusp of a process 'literally designed to result in our imprisonment'.

"We will forcefully defend ourselves," wrote the Clintons in their four-page letter shared on Twitter, with the former POTUS captioning the tweet: "This is not about Right or Left, it’s about Right and Wrong."

They accused Comer of allowing other former officials to provide written statements about Jeffrey Epstein to the committee, while selectively enforcing subpoenas against them.

"We have tried to give you the little information we have. We’ve done so because Mr. Epstein's crimes were horrific," they wrote. "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."

Following this, Comer says he will begin contempt-of-Congress proceedings next week. It could start a complicated and politically messy process that Congress has rarely resorted to.

“No one’s accusing the Clintons of any wrongdoing. We just have questions, and that’s why the Democrats voted along with Republicans to subpoena Bill Clinton.” Comer told reporters after Clinton (who has previously called on President Trump to release all the infamous files) did not show up for a scheduled deposition at House offices today.

Meanwhile, a Democrat spokesperson for the Oversight Committee said (via The Guardian): "Cooperating with Congress is important, and the committee should continue working with President Clinton’s team to obtain any information that might be relevant to our investigation."

Clinton had a well-documented friendship with the wealthy financier throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, but has never been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein and has denied any knowledge of his crimes.

Republicans have zeroed in on that relationship as they try to wrestle control over demands for a full accounting of Epstein’s wrongdoing.

Epstein was arrested in 2019 on federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges. He killed himself in a New York jail cell while awaiting trial.

In light of the backlash Comer has received from the Clintons, he made it clear that it wasn't just him who voted to subpoena the pair.

"It’s important to note that this subpoena was voted on in a bipartisan manner by this committee," he said (as per CNN).

"This wasn’t something that I just issued as chairman of the committee. This was voted on by the entire committee in a unanimous vote of the House Oversight Committee to subpoena former President Clinton and former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton."

He further noted that Hillary is 'supposed to show up tomorrow at the House offices', but it doesn't seem like he's holding his breath for the former First Lady to appear.