A key US congressional panel has voted to hold former President Bill Clinton and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in contempt of Congress over their refusal to comply with subpoenas in its investigation of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The Republican-led House Oversight Committee approved the contempt measure, with the support of several Democrats, and it will now go to the full House of Representatives for a vote.
If it passes the chamber, the matter will be referred to the justice department.
The committee had summoned both Clintons to testify about Epstein, with whom Bill Clinton has appeared in photographs in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Lawyers for the Clintons had called the Oversight Committee subpoenas “unenforceable”, and said they had already provided the “limited information” they had about Epstein.
On Wednesday, nine Democrats voted with Republicans to hold Bill Clinton in contempt of Congress, while three Democrats voted to hold Hillary Clinton in contempt.
If the full House votes in favour, the Department of Justice would decide whether to prosecute the charges, which is a misdemeanour offence punishable by a fine up to $100,000 (£74,500) and imprisonment up to a year.
In a statement, Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer urged the full House to hold the Clintons in contempt, saying his committee had sent a “clear message” that “no one is above the law, and justice must be applied equally – regardless of position, pedigree, or prestige”.
The Clintons had contended the subpoenas – legal orders to provide testimony – were “nothing more than a ploy to attempt to embarrass political rivals, as President Trump has directed”.
In a letter to Comer, lawyers for the Clintons said they had communicated “proactively and voluntarily” with the committee.
The attorneys also said the subpoenas were “untethered to a valid legislative purpose, unwarranted because they do not seek pertinent information, and an unprecedented infringement on the separation of powers”.
Bill Clinton appears with Epstein and at the late financier’s estate in photographs that were recently released by the justice department after Congress passed a law requiring the agency to release material related to investigations of Epstein.
One picture shows the former president swimming in a pool, and another shows him lying on his back with his hands behind his head in what appears to be a hot tub.
Clinton’s spokesman, Angel Ureña, said when the photos were released that they were decades old and Clinton stopped associating with Epstein before his crimes came to light.
The majority of documents as part of the Epstein files has yet to be released as required by law, which mandated their release by 19 December.
Many of those that were released included redactions that weren’t explained, which was also required by law. Faces and names of figures who were investigated by authorities were among the redactions.
Officials have noted there are still millions of documents that have yet to be made public.
