Pelosi Condemns Democratic Vote to Hold Clintons in Contempt

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has condemned her colleagues’ decision to hold former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress for refusing to testify during a House Oversight Committee investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Nearly half of the Democrats on the committee voted to declare the Clintons in contempt for declining to appear as part of the probe, which has been ongoing since Epstein was friends with the former president and flew on his private aircraft.

In a private meeting, Pelosi criticized the group that backed the contempt vote, arguing the Clintons were still negotiating terms for future testimony. She stated no proceedings should proceed against them until after the Justice Department releases all investigative files related to New York financier Jeffrey Epstein.

House leadership opposed the contempt resolution, with Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., urging committee Democrats to vote no. However, nine Democrats voted to hold Bill Clinton in contempt and three Democrats voted to hold Hillary Clinton in contempt.

Raskin said after the vote: “We’re going to get through this thing.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., noted that the Clintons are “working in good faith to try to reach an accommodation with the Oversight Committee in order to sit down and offer their testimony.”

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., who introduced legislation requiring the Justice Department to release all Epstein-related files, argued Attorney General Pam Bondi should be held in contempt instead.

“The only person we should be holding in contempt right now is Pam Bondi, who is refusing to release the files,” Khanna told CNN. “The Clintons have called for the full release of the files, and Bill Clinton should testify after the files are released with [President] Donald Trump.”