Nine Democrats Join GOP on Clinton Contempt Vote (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: There was a pretty significant development on Capitol Hill this week, and that is nine Democrats voted with Republicans to hold former President Bill Clinton in contempt of Congress for not coming up and testifying on the Epstein files. Three Democrats voted to hold Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress. I mean, this is after the Clintons sent a very long public letter to the Republican chair explaining why not only do they not think it's appropriate to come and testify, but also laying out a political roadmap for Democrats in talking about the fact that this is just a distraction from all the things that are most important to the American people. But those nine Democrats in particular on Bill Clinton, they clearly think that it's important for them to show that it's not a partisan thing, that it is a bipartisan thing. I'm told by a source who was talking to these Democrats that that was one of the big reasons. It wasn't easy for a lot of them to vote this way. But another reason is if you look at who the Democrats are, for the most part, they are younger members of Congress. They are those who have made names for themselves, bucking the establishment. And it's hard to think of a more establishment Democrat these days than former President Bill Clinton. And so this is going to be an interesting test when and if it gets to the full House of Representatives to see how big of a bipartisan vote it is, assuming that it does go through and that the Republican speaker brings a contempt of Congress vote to the full House of Representatives for a former President of the United States. Now, I will add that Congressman Ro Khanna, Democrat of California, who was one of the leaders in getting enough Republicans on board to force legislation through to say to the Justice Department, you have to release the Epstein files. He was opposed to this contempt vote. He said in a text message to me that the only person who should be held in contempt is the Attorney General, Pam Bondi, and that he doesn't think that Bill Clinton or Hillary Clinton have to testify, Bill Clinton in particular, until after they get all the files. And there is clearly a reason for that to happen. So obviously, there is a difference of opinion here. But nine Democrats joining Republicans, that's not nothing.