Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is trying to come to the rescue of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton – a last ditch attempt to save the twice failed Democratic presidential candidate from jail time.
Pelosi confronted Democrats in a private meeting Thursday after nearly half of the House Oversight Committee’s Democrats voted to hold Hillary and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, in contempt of Congress for defying subpoenas in the committee’s Jeffrey Epstein investigation.
Pelosi said she was upset that Democrats supported the contempt vote because Hillary’s lawyers were still negotiating with the committee.
The former speaker demanded nothing should move forward against the Clintons until after the Justice Department has released all of the Epstein investigative files.
She also rejected the argument that they should be treated the same as Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro, two Trump allies and first-term administration officials who were held in contempt of Congress for failing to comply with subpoenas from the committee investigating the January 6, 2021 riot. Both were prosecuted, convicted, and sentenced to prison terms.
The House Oversight Committee voted Wednesday to advance resolutions holding the Clintons in contempt after they did not appear for depositions earlier this month.
The committee voted 34-8 to hold the former president in contempt, with two members voting present. Nine Democrats joined with Republicans to advance the measure. The committee voted 28-15 to hold Hillary Clinton in contempt, with three Democrats supporting the effort.
“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. For us, now is that time,” the Clintons wrote in their letter refusing to appear.
That puts them in serious legal trouble, experts say.
The Clintons are “in a very difficult position, because these cases are very straightforward. They’re pretty much, ‘Did you get a subpoena, and did you go testify?'” former US Attorney John Fishwick, a Barack Obama appointee, told CNN. “The courts are going to say that Congress has broad discretion on who they want to ask for a deposition.”
Ahead of Wednesday’s vote to advance the contempt charges, House Democratic establishment leaders made it clear they did not want Dem party members on the panel to support the effort.
House Democratic leaders want to avoid a floor vote where more members in their ranks would be likely to support contempt. They hope to find a resolution between Comer and the Clintons before a vote would occur in two weeks.
Comer said on Feb. 9, the panel will virtually interview Epstein’s longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who is being held at a federal prison in Texas after she was convicted for sex trafficking of a minor and conspiracy. Attorney General Pam Bondi will appear in a public hearing before the House Judiciary Committee next month.
A full House vote could have serious legal consequences for the Clintons. If the House approves the referrals, they would move to Bondi’s Justice Department for prosecution. The Clintons could be subject to up to $100,000 fines and one year in jail if convicted.