WASHINGTON

US House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chair said on Wednesday that contempt proceedings will officially move forward against both former President Bill Clinton and his wife, ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

"Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton joined her husband in defying a bipartisan lawful Congressional subpoena to show up today ...We're going to hold both Clintons in Criminal Contempt of Congress," Rep. James Comer told reporters.

The committee is expected to take up the contempt resolution next week along with a separate measure targeting her husband Bill Clinton, who also failed to appear for a scheduled deposition Tuesday in the same investigation.

“I think what’s most disappointing to the Oversight Committee is the fact that we have, in good faith, negotiated with the Clintons’ attorney for five months,” Comer said.

"Throughout the past five months, they’ve implied to us they are trying to make a date work."

Last July, in a voice vote, Republicans and Democrats on the Federal Law Enforcement Subcommittee unanimously approved a motion to issue subpoenas to 10 individuals, including the Clintons, for testimony related to the crimes perpetrated by Jeffrey Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who remains incarcerated for her crimes.

Epstein was found dead in his New York City jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. He pleaded guilty in a court in the state of Florida and was convicted of procuring a minor for prostitution in 2008, but critics call the relatively minor conviction a “sweetheart deal.”

His victims have alleged that he operated a sprawling sex trafficking network that was used by members of the wealthy and political elite.

Epstein’s case has remained a politically charged issue in the US, with lawmakers and victims’ advocates from across the spectrum demanding greater transparency about his network of associates and any individuals who may have facilitated his crimes.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing related to Epstein. Their past social and business ties, as well as Epstein’s extensive links to political, business, and academic figures in the US and abroad, have fueled calls for the broad release of official records.