Nearly half of the Democrats on the House Oversight Committee broke with their party's leadership in stunning fashion Wednesday by voting to hold former President Bill Clinton in contempt of Congress.
Why it matters: The vote put them in defiance of Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), who actively whipped committee members to vote against the measure, according to four sources familiar with the matter.
- "I've publicly and strongly expressed my opposition to what [Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.)] is trying to do," Jeffries told reporters after the panel vote on Wednesday.
- Members also heard from Clinton's lawyers, who called and emailed members urging them to oppose the contempt resolution, according to three sources familiar with that effort. Axios has reached out to the Clinton team for comment.
- Oversight Committee ranking member Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) voted against the measure but privately instructed members to vote their conscience, several committee members told Axios.
What happened: The panel voted separately to hold Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress after they failed to appear for scheduled depositions last week.
- The Clintons were subpoenaed, along with former FBI directors and attorneys general, to testify about the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
- The Bill Clinton vote was 34-8, with nine Democrats siding with Republicans in voting to hold the former president in contempt, eight voting against and two voting "present."
- Just three Democrats voted with Republicans to hold Hillary Clinton in contempt, with 15 voting against it and one voting "present."
What they're saying: "I voted my conscience and I voted my district," Rep. Lateefah Simon (D-Calif.) told Axios of her vote to hold Bill Clinton in contempt, adding that she expects to vote for the measure again when it reaches the House floor.
- Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), who also voted for the Bill Clinton contempt measure, said there is "plenty of evidence" that the former president "might have information that he could share with the committee" on Epstein.
- "He had flown a number of times with Epstein, he had traveled with them, he knew Maxwell very closely," Lynch said, adding that while "leadership ... would like to defend the Clintons," it was "certainly a reasonable belief that he might be able to inform the investigation."
- Both Clintons have denied any wrongdoing.
The other side: "The Department of Justice is in violation of the law by failing to release millions of documents connected to the Epstein files ... and that's what we should be focused on right now," Jeffries told reporters.
- Said Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who voted against both contempt measures: "We should be voting to hold [Attorney General Pam] Bondi in contempt."
- The Clintons' lawyers had argued that the panel was holding them to an unreasonable standard by not allowing them to provide written answers as they did with several former FBI directors and attorneys general.
What to watch: Jeffries said he has not decided whether to formally whip against the measure when it reaches the House floor, though sources told Axios that may be unnecessary.
- One senior House Democrat, speaking on the condition of anonymity, predicted only "between a dozen and 15" Democrats will vote for the measure on the floor but "not much beyond that."
- Oversight Democrats "just wanted to send a very serious message to the [Epstein] victims that they were going to be with them no matter what," the lawmaker said.
Lynch similarly acknowledged that "it's a different perspective if you're on the committee, because we pledged to those victims that we're going to get to the bottom of this."
- A second senior House Democrat said they "suspect not a lot" more Democrats will vote for the measure beyond its supporters on the panel.
Yes, but: Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) said while she wants to get "steeped in the specifics," she believes "we have to hold our friends and allies to the same standard we are trying to hold the Republican leadership to."
- Several other House Democrats similarly told Axios they are undecided and plan to review the contempt measure, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).
- Predicted a third House Democrat who spoke anonymously: "Now that you had nine people from the committee vote for it, how do you lock this down now? This was a total miscalculation."
