James Comer is Chairman of the House Oversight Committee. | https://oversight.house.gov/chairman-james-comer/
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, led by Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.), will begin contempt of Congress proceedings next week against former President Bill Clinton. This action follows Clinton's failure to appear for a scheduled deposition after being served with a bipartisan congressional subpoena.
Chairman Comer stated that the subpoena had received unanimous approval from both Republicans and Democrats on the committee. "Bill Clinton did not show up, and I think it’s important to note that this subpoena was voted on in a bipartisan manner by this Committee. This wasn’t something that I just issued as chairman of the Committee. This was voted on by an entire subcommittee in a unanimous vote to subpoena former President Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton."
No Democratic members of the Oversight Committee, including Ranking Member Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), attended the deposition. Comer addressed this absence in his remarks: "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. And we’ve had a former cabinet secretary, [Alex] Acosta, in for a grilling. We had Bill Barr, former attorney general, in for a grilling. But for whatever reason, President Clinton didn’t show up, and the Democrats on the committee don’t seem to have a problem."
Comer added that there had been ongoing communication with Clinton’s legal team over several months but said efforts to reschedule were unsuccessful: "We communicated with President Clinton’s legal team for months now, giving them opportunity after opportunity to come in, to give us a day, and they continue to delay, delay, delay, to the point where we had no idea whether they’re going to show up today or not."
He confirmed plans for further action: "We will move next week in the House Oversight Committee’s markup to hold former President Clinton in contempt of Congress."
The subpoenas at issue were authorized by voice vote on July 23, 2025 by both Republican and Democratic members of the Federal Law Enforcement Subcommittee. The purpose was testimony related to crimes involving Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Following this vote, subpoenas were issued August 5, 2025 by Chairman Comer.
Clinton's initial deposition date was October 14, 2025; it was later rescheduled for December 17 due to his need to attend a funeral. The committee indicated willingness to accommodate him if he proposed new dates in January; however, he declined this offer as well. A new subpoena set January 13 as the final deposition date.
