The pressure campaign surrounding the Epstein files just hit a whole new level.
Bill and Hillary Clinton have now been officially referred to the Department of Justice for potential arrest after they refused to sit for their scheduled depositions before the House Oversight Committee. Their October testimony was delayed over “scheduling conflicts,” and they’ve since continued to stonewall investigators demanding answers about their long-documented relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
Lawmakers say the refusal is unacceptable — and that no one gets to duck a lawful subpoena, especially not two of the most politically connected figures in modern history.
The referral is now in DOJ hands, and if they choose to act, this could become one of the biggest accountability fights Washington has seen in decades.
Democrats opened Pandora’s box with the Epstein files.
Now the fallout is landing squarely on their own icons.
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Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA) has managed to tick off half her own party, sparking a House vote Monday night to rebuke Rep. Chuy García (D-IL) for engineering a glide path for his chief of staff to take his seat.Gluesenkamp Perez is blasting García for what she calls “election subversion,” a charge that’s infuriated Democrats who say she’s torpedoing party unity at the worst possible time.
One House Democrat griped to Axios that “people were extremely frustrated last week” when Gluesenkamp Perez forced the vote just as the House cleared a government funding bill most Democrats detested.
A senior Democrat piled on, telling Axios lawmakers are “very pissed” the flap is creating fresh infighting right before an expected vote on releasing the Epstein files.
Leadership plans to smother her resolution with a motion to table, lawmakers said. The two-page measure scolds García for dropping his reelection bid right before Illinois’ filing deadline, clearing the field for his chief of staff, Patty García, who is now the lone candidate on the primary ballot.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said he “strongly” backs García and dismissed Gluesenkamp Perez’s move as a “so-called motion of disapproval.”
“Representative García’s actions are beneath the dignity of his office and incompatible with the spirit of the United States Constitution,” the resolution declares.
García’s fellow Illinois colleague, Jan Schakowsky, erupted in support for her longtime pal after Gluesenkamp Perez filed the resolution, screeching on the House floor.
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His office rushed talking points to colleagues on Monday, insisting he “followed all requirements and deadlines under Illinois law” and warning that the vote “creates distraction and divisiveness among Democrats.”
But not everyone is falling in line. Several moderates told Axios they might buck leadership and back Gluesenkamp Perez when the procedural vote hits the floor.
Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME), a close ally of Gluesenkamp Perez, made his own feelings clear, noting he announced his retirement months before his state’s deadline.
“If I know I’m going to get done then I should get done so that there is time and space for people to make the decision to offer their name. … Every day that I now wait is taking time away from someone else,” he said.
Missouri Democratic Rep. Bill Clay Sr., the first black congressman from the state, died on Thursday after serving 32 years in the U.S. House. He was 94.
Clay, a civil and workers’ rights advocate, represented the state’s 1st district from 1969 to 2001, and he was a driving influence in St. Louis’ recovery after “white flight” following the Civil Rights Act. He bartered with construction trades and corporate C-suites to see his hometown transformed into the skyline that now surrounds its iconic arch.
Prominent Democrats’ endorsements had a significant impact on the election prospects of fellow party members, and he was known for demanding unwavering loyalty from those who gained his approval.
“The Black community, almost overwhelmingly, looked at him as a fighter for them,” said his son, former Congressman Lacy Clay (D-MO).
In the years after the enactment of the 1965 Civil Rights Act, black St. Louisans moved quickly to capture power in a city that had long separated its communities via historically discriminatory redlining policies. Clay, Sr. was ahead of his time, gaining his first election to the St. Louis Board of Aldermen in 1959 at the age of only 28.
He became a staple during sit-ins as members of St. Louis’ black community protested the segregation enforced by businesses such as White Castle and Howard Johnson, which divided black and white customers into separate seats and hotel rooms.
“St. Louis was no different from any of the cities in the South,” Clay said in a 1998 profile. “We had rigid segregation — not by law, but by custom.”
St. Louis Democrats who came of age under Clay’s shadow paid tribute to him on Friday.
St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer told SLNPR that Clay’s “courageous legacy of public service to St. Louis and the country is etched in his historic legislative battles for the poor, underrepresented and disenfranchised.”
“Millions have him to thank for the Family and Medical Leave Act and raising the minimum wage,” Spencer said. “Generations of Black congressional leaders have followed in his footsteps as members of the Congressional Black Caucus, which he co-founded in 1971. We thank him for his generous service to a city he cared deeply for.”
Congressman Wesley Bell (D-MO) called Clay a ”giant — not just for St. Louis, not just for Missouri, but for the entirety of our country.”
“I counted Mr. Clay as a grand mentor, as a trailblazer, and as a dear friend,” Bell said in a statement. “But more than that, I carry his example with me every time I walk onto the House Floor.”
The Congressional Black Caucus, which counts a record-breaking 62 members in the 119th Congress, said in a statement, “Congressman Bill Clay leaves behind a legacy of dignity, courage, and transformative impact. His work laid the foundation for future generations of Black leadership in public service. May he rest in power and everlasting.”
St. Louis Democratic Mayor Cara Spencer wrote, “On behalf of the City of St. Louis, I want to offer my condolences to the family of one of St. Louis’ proud native sons, Congressman Bill Clay Sr. My sincerest sympathy is extended to his son, Lacy Clay, who has been a champion for the City of St. Louis.”
Michael P. McMillan, president & CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, wronte, “The Urban League expresses our deepest condolences to the Clay Family upon the passing of former Congressman William L. Clay, Sr. He was a giant in the Congress and a civil rights pioneer who helped transform St. Louis and change the lives of countless people locally and nationally. He had a profound impact on me personally as we worked together on many projects. His legacy remains and should always be remembered.”