House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., told Newsmax on Wednesday that the panel is moving to hold former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress after he said they defied bipartisan subpoenas, setting up committee votes and a possible referral to the Department of Justice.
On "Finnerty," Comer said Bill Clinton "defied his subpoena yesterday" and Hillary Clinton "defied her subpoena today."
Comer said the committee has moved toward contempt proceedings, describing a multistep timetable that begins with a notice period and leads to the committee debate and votes.
Under House procedures, as Comer described, the committee must allow three business days while the House is in session before a full committee markup.
Comer listed the notice period as "tomorrow, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday," then said the Oversight Committee would hold a markup with separate votes on each Clinton.
Comer said he expects Republican support for the contempt votes and predicted some Democrats could also back the effort because, he said, Democrats and Republicans on the committee voted to authorize the subpoenas.
"This wasn't a Republican subpoena," Comer said, calling it "a bipartisan subpoena voted on by Republicans and Democrats on the committee."
If the contempt measures pass the committee, Comer said a second notice period would follow before the matter reaches the full House for a vote. Comer said he had been assured by House leadership that the contempt votes would be scheduled.
"I've been assured by House leadership that will receive a vote. And I think that the Republicans are in agreement that the Clintons are not above the law, and they should be held accountable for defying a lawful bipartisan congressional subpoena," he said.
If the full House approves contempt, Comer said the next step would be a referral to the Department of Justice.
Host Rob Finnerty referred to Pam Bondi as attorney general, and Comer said the matter would go to the attorney general of the United States, while adding that he was unsure who within the department would lead the response.
"Well, I know that the president's appointing other people in the Department of Justice to do certain tasks, like he's got a deputy attorney general in Minnesota now, so I don't know who will be the person spearheading it," he said.
Comer also drew a comparison to prior contempt cases involving former Trump advisers Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon, saying there is a precedent for DOJ enforcement when congressional subpoenas are defied.
"Well, there's a precedent to do that. And I think that all the Department of Justice has to do is follow the [former Attorney General] Merrick Garland precedents that were set when Navarro and Bannon each defied a lawful congressional subpoena.
Comer stated that his committee is "legitimate" due to its bipartisan membership, unlike the Jan. 6 select committee, which he argued lacked legitimacy because it had no Republican members.
The imprisonment of Navarro and Bannon for ignoring congressional subpoenas is essentially the same situation the Clintons could face.
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Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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