Wiggins scores career-high 41 and Thunder outrebound Kings 70-37 in 144-110 rout

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Aaron Wiggins had a career-high 41 points and 14 rebounds, and the Oklahoma City Thunder rolled past the Sacramento Kings 144-110 on Saturday night.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 29 points and nine assists for the Thunder (38-9), who set a season best for points and rebounds (70), including 14 by center Isaiah Hartenstein, 13 by Jaylin Williams and 11 by Kenrich Williams.

Wiggins, starting in place of injured forward Jalen Williams, made 16 of 30 field goal attempts and shot 6 of 14 on 3-pointers. He scored 14 points in the fourth quarter.

Lu Dort had 20 points and eight rebounds for Oklahoma City, which scored 82 points in the first half to take control.

De’Aaron Fox had 20 points for the Kings (24-24). Malik Monk added 19 points and seven assists, and DeMar DeRozan scored 17.

Gilgeous-Alexander had 23 points in the first half to help Oklahoma City build an 82-55 halftime lead. The 82 points were the most scored by the Thunder in one half this season and fell one point short of a team record for any half.

Oklahoma City led 36-31 after one period and then outscored the Kings 46-24 in the second. The lead grew to 30 on a 3-pointer by Dort early in the third.

Kings: All five starters scored in double figures, but Sacramento went just 11 of 44 on 3s (25%).

Thunder: Oklahoma City played without Jalen Williams, an All-Star selection, and guard Alex Caruso but still outrebounded and outshot the Kings.

Sacramento cut the deficit to 53-44 on a layup by Domantas Sabonis, but Oklahoma City went on a 29-11 run to make it 82-55 at the break.

Oklahoma City had a 70-37 rebounding edge.

The Kings visit Minnesota on Monday. The Thunder host Milwaukee on Monday.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Sacramento Kings forward DeMar DeRozan looks to shoot during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)

Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein (55) drives past Sacramento Kings forwards Keegan Murray (13) and Domantas Sabonis (11) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)

Sacramento Kings guard De'Aaron Fox, right, drives past Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kenrich Williams, left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)

Sacramento Kings forward DeMar DeRozan, middle, shoots over Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein, left, and forward Ousmane Dieng, right, during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)

Sacramento Kings guard De'Aaron Fox (5) shoots over Oklahoma City Thunder forward Ousmane Dieng (13) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Adam Flagler (14) shoots in front of Sacramneto Kings guard Jordan McLaughlin (3) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Aaron Wiggins, left, shoots around Sacramento Kings guard De'Aaron Fox, right, during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Luguentz Dort (5) shoots over Sacramento Kings forward Trey Lyles (41) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)

Sacramento Kings forward DeMar DeRozan, center, shoots over Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein, left, and guard Aaron Wiggins, right, during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Aaron Wiggins, right, shoots over Sacramento Kings center Isaac Jones, left, during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Aaron Wiggins celebrates during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Sacramento Kings, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that they will refuse to comply with a congressional subpoena to testify in a House committee's investigation of Jeffrey Epstein.

The Clintons, in a letter released on social media, slammed the House Oversight probe as “legally invalid” even as Republican lawmakers prepared contempt of Congress proceedings against them. The Clintons wrote that the chair of the House Oversight Committee, Republican Rep. James Comer, is on the cusp of a process “literally designed to result in our imprisonment.”

“We will forcefully defend ourselves,” wrote the Clintons, who are Democrats. They accused Comer of allowing other former officials to provide written statements about Epstein to the committee, while selectively enforcing subpoenas against them.

The intensifying clash adds another dimension to the fight over Epstein, raising new questions about the limits of congressional power to compel testimony. It also comes when Republicans are grappling with the Justice Department’s delayed release of the Epstein files after a bipartisan push for their release.

Comer said he’ll begin contempt of Congress proceedings next week. It potentially starts a complicated and politically messy process that Congress has rarely reached for and could result in prosecution from the Justice Department.

“No one’s accusing the Clintons of any wrongdoing. We just have questions," Comer told reporters after Bill Clinton did not show up for a scheduled deposition at House offices Tuesday.

He added, “Anyone would admit they spent a lot of time together.”

Clinton has never been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein but had a well-documented friendship with the wealthy financier throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. Republicans have zeroed in on that relationship as they wrestle with demands for a full accounting of Epstein's wrongdoing.

Epstein was arrested in 2019 on federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges. He killed himself in a New York jail cell while awaiting trial.

“We have tried to give you the little information we have. We've done so because Mr. Epstein's crimes were horrific,” the Clintons wrote in the letter.

Multiple former presidents have voluntarily testified before Congress, but none has been compelled to do so. That history was invoked by President Donald Trump in 2022, between his first and second terms, when he faced a subpoena by the House committee investigating the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, riot by a mob of his supporters at the U.S. Capitol.

Trump's lawyers cited decades of legal precedent they said shielded an ex-president from being ordered to appear before Congress. The committee ultimately withdrew its subpoena.

Comer also indicated that the Oversight committee would not attempt to compel testimony from Trump about Epstein, saying that it could not force a sitting president to testify.

Trump, a Republican, also had a well-documented friendship with Epstein. He has said he cut off that relationship before Epstein was accused of sexual abuse.

Meanwhile, the congressional co-sponsors of legislation that forced the public release of investigative documents in the sex trafficking probe of Epstein and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell asked a New York judge in a letter to appoint a neutral expert to oversee release of the materials. The letter, dated Jan. 8, was delivered to the judge Monday night.

U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, and Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, told U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer they had “urgent and grave concerns” that the Justice Department has failed to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which required the files to be released last month. They said they believed “criminal violations have taken place” in the release process.

Engelmayer presides over the Maxwell case. Maxwell, a former Epstein girlfriend, is serving a 20-year prison sentence after her 2021 sex trafficking conviction for recruiting girls and women to be abused by Epstein and for sometimes joining in the abuse. Last month, Maxwell sought to set aside her conviction, saying new evidence had emerged proving constitutional violations spoiled her trial.

Justice Department officials, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday, have said the files' release was slowed by redactions required to protect the identities of abuse victims.

In their letter, Khanna and Massie wrote that the Department of Justice's release of 12,000 documents out of more than 2 million documents being reviewed was a “flagrant violation” of the law's release requirements and had caused “serious trauma to survivors.”

“Put simply, the DOJ cannot be trusted with making mandatory disclosures under the Act,” the congressmen said as they asked for the appointment of an independent monitor to ensure all documents and electronically stored information are immediately made public.

They also recommended that a court-appointed monitor be given authority to notify and prepare reports about the true nature and extent of the document production and whether improper redactions or conduct have taken place.

Engelmayer directed the Justice Department and Maxwell, if she wishes, to respond to the allegations from the congressmen by Friday.

Associated Press writers Michael R. Sisak and Larry Neumeister in New York contributed to this report.

FILE - Former President Bill Clinton, left, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton listen as Vice President Kamala Harris delivers a eulogy for U.S. Rep.†Sheila Jackson Lee, Aug. 1, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)

FILE - Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton listen during the state funeral for former President Jimmy Carter at Washington National Cathedral in Washington, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

Documents that were included in the U.S. Department of Justice release of the Jeffrey Epstein files are photographed Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)