Former President Bill Clinton should be held in contempt of Congress if he refuses to answer a congressional subpoena, Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., said Tuesday.
Clinton refused to show up to testify before the House Oversight Committee as part of its probe into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a letter to House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., that they didn't plan to appear for the scheduled depositions, arguing that the subpoenas are "legally invalid" and citing legal analysis prepared by two law firms that they said were provided to the committee on Monday.
"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 Clintons wrote. "For us, now is that time."
Hillary Clinton was supposed to testify before the committee on Wednesday.
"Bill Clinton needs to be brought up on contempt charges. Hillary has an opportunity to show up tomorrow at 10 a.m.," Donalds told Newsmax's "Finnerty."
"I would recommend that she does that because despite the positions they've held in our country, they are now private citizens and they have a responsibility to acknowledge and respond and show up to a subpoena the same way any American citizen has the responsibility to show up on a subpoena is issued by the House of Representatives.
"Hillary, if you want to play games, play games. But if you choose to play those games and say, well, your husband did, then we'll issue a contempt order for you as well."
In their letter to Comer, the Clintons also brought up the prospect of the committee voting to hold them in contempt.
"We expect you will direct your committee to seek to hold us in contempt. You will say it is not our decision to make," they wrote.
"But we have made it. Now you have to make yours.
"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," the Clintons wrote.
"This is not the way out of America's ills, and we will forcefully defend ourselves."
Donalds said the Clintons have a responsibility to answer the subpoena.
"If you want to come in and answer questions, come in and answer questions. If you have nothing to hide, come in and answer questions.
"If that's not the case, then we have a responsibility to send that to the Justice Department. And the Justice Department can take that action the same way they did against [Trump adviser] Peter Navarro, same way they did against Steve Bannon and others," Donalds continued.
"What the American people want to see is that nobody is above the law."
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Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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