Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have declined to testify in the House investigation of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The decision comes after Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., subpoenaed both in August 2025.
In a letter sent to Comer, they described their refusal as an act of defiance and said that they were ready for whatever consequences may lie ahead.
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“Every person has to decide when they have seen or had enough and are ready to fight for this country, its principles and its people, no matter the consequences,” the letter read. “For us, now is that time.”
This is not about Right or Left, it’s about Right and Wrong. pic.twitter.com/IVQh3yHEGG
— Bill Clinton (@BillClinton) January 13, 2026
Comer, who is the chair of the House Oversight Committee and is leading the investigation, has said he would hold the Clintons in contempt of Congress if they refused to testify.
The punishment for being held in contempt of Congress is a federal misdemeanor carrying up to $100,000 in fines and up to 12 months in prison.
The Hill reported that Comer would launch a contempt of Congress proceeding against the former president next week because of his refusal to testify. He also threatened to do the same to Hillary Clinton if she didn’t testify on Wednesday, which the committee had requested.
Why did Comer subpoena the Clintons?
Comer and other lawmakers in the Republican-led investigation into Epstein’s crimes sought testimony from the Clintons after their ties to the convicted sex offender came to light.
Several of the photos the Department of Justice was legally obligated to release depicted Bill Clinton. Some of these photos include the president swimming with convicted child sex offender and Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
Authorities have never accused Bill Clinton of any wrongdoing during the investigation.
Following the release of the photos, Clinton spokesperson Angel Ureña called on the DOJ to release all files related to Bill Clinton in the Epstein case.
“Accordingly, we call on President Trump to direct Attorney General Bondi to immediately release any remaining materials referring to, mentioning, or containing a photograph of Bill Clinton,” he wrote.
He added that any refusal to do so would “confirm the widespread suspicion the Department of Justice’s actions to date are not about transparency, but about insinuation.”
How have the Clintons responded to the subpoena?
The Clintons have previously said they had no intention of testifying to Congress regarding the Epstein investigation. The couple has provided the oversight committee with sworn statements similar to those accepted from other former law enforcement officials who were also subpoenaed, according to The New York Times.
In the letter released Tuesday, the Clintons alleged the Trump administration had carried out “unprecedented acts” and said Comer was politically targeting them.
“You subpoenaed eight people in addition to us,” they wrote. “You dismissed seven of those eight without any of them saying a word to you. You made no attempt to force them to appear.”
The letter criticized Comer’s pace in the investigation, saying that he had only interviewed two people in the last year. They also noted that a legal analysis conducted by two law firms and given to Comer on Monday shows the subpoenas are “legally invalid.”
What’s the latest on the Epstein files?
The Clintons’ letter to Comer also brought up the Epstein files, which the DOJ was supposed to release late last year after Congress passed a law requiring it. They wrote that Comer had never used his position heading the investigation to pressure the DOJ into releasing the remaining Epstein files.
“You have done nothing with your oversight capacity to force the Department of Justice to follow the law and release all its Epstein files, including any material regarding us as we have publicly called for,” the letter stated.
They also criticized the majority of the Republican Party’s stance on the release of the Epstein files. They said the Epstein Files Transparency Act passed only because 4 House Republicans voted to bring the bill to a vote. Ultimately, only one lawmaker in Congress voted against the bill during the final vote, Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La.
The DOJ has released some files related to the Epstein investigation but it said it wouldn’t be able to release all documents by Dec. 19, the date the law legally required. Justice Department officials said they have reviewed less than 1% of the more than 2 million files they say exist.
Officials have not said when they expect to release the remaining files.
